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APR  1  5  I92i, 

APR  1  9  1929 


Form  L-9-15m-8,'26 


THE 


SPIRIT  OF  DEMOCRACY 


Copyright  by  Clinedinst 


WooDRow  Wilson 


PATRIOTISM  THROUGH  LITERATURE 


THE 
SPIRIT  OF  DEMOCRACY 


By 
LYMAN  P.  POWELL 

AND 

GERTRUDE  W.  POWELL 


O"    B       3tf   y 


1        >^   a     '     '     ,      -, 


RAND  McNALLY  &  COMPANY 

CHICAGO  NEW  YORK 


81192 


Copyright,  igi8 
By  Rand  McNally  &  Company 


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433 

THE   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  President's  War  Message Woodrow  Wilson  1 

America , .  .Samuel  Francis  Smith  5 

Clarion Harold  T.  Pulsifer  6 

Ye  That  Have  Faith Owen  Seaman  7 

^     The  Meaning  of  Americanism  . .   Charles  Evans  Hughes  8 

^            A  Thanksgiving Marion  Couthouy  Smith  10 

V            America Bayard  Taylor  12 

America  Enters  the  War David  Lloyd  George  14 

Armageddon Sir  Edwin  Arnold  16 

What  Did  You  See  Out  There,  My  Lad? 

John  Oxenham  18 

America  First Woodrow  Wilson  20 

The  New  Banner Katrina  Trask  26 

A  Litany  in  the  Desert  .  .  .Alice  Corbin  Henderson  27 

Victory  before  Peace Albert  Shaw  28 

Americans,  Hail! Sir  William  Watson  30 

Comrades Richard  Hovey  33 

Why  We  Must  Win Frank  0.  Lowden  34 

I  Am  an  American Elias  Lieberman  39 

The  Searchlights Alfred  Noyes  40 

The  United  States  Comes  of  Age Hamilton  Holt  42 

To  America Charles  Langbridge  Morgan  43 

The  Reveille Bret  Harte  44 

Opposing  Principles Talcott  Williams  46 

— ■  Boston  Hymn Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  47 

Dies  Irae  —  Dies  Pacis John  Oxenham  48 

Golden  Boys Winifred  M.  Letts  49 

Why  We  Fight Theodore  Roosevelt  50 

The  Riderless  Horse Harold  T.  Pulsifer  51 

A  Cavalry  Catch William  Sharp  52 

A  Lullaby G.  R.  Glasgow  52 


vi  THE    CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Our  Common  Heritage Arthur  J.  Balfour  54 

Peace  Hymn  for  England  and  America 

George  Huntington  57 

Malbrouk — ET  Nous 58 

The  Memorial  Day  Address Woodrow  Wilson  59 

Gettysburg  Address Abraham  Lincoln  61 

Abraham   Lincoln   Walks   at   Midnight 

Vachel  Lindsay  62 

Union Virginia  Fraser  Boyle  63 

Supporting  the  Government Elihu  Root  66 

"Breathes  There  the  Man" Sir  Walter  Scott  71 

"Of  Old  Sat  Freedom  on  the  Heights" 

Alfred  Tennyson  72 

The  Present  Crisis James  Russell  Lowell  73 

"^    Carry  On! Robert  W.  Service  74 

Changes  Ahead Marion  LeRoy  Burton  76 

Hymn  of  Freedom Mary  Perry  King  79 

Patriotism Lyman  Abbott  80 

Earth  Calls  to  Heaven.  .  IF/// /aw  Pierson  Merrill  81 

The   Little   Star  in   the  Window 

John  Jerome  Rooney  82 

The  Battle  between  Right  and  Might 

Frank  0.  Lowden  85 

From  "Ode  of  Dedication"  .  . .  .Hermann  Hagedorn  90 

"Over  There" Harvey  M.  Watts  91 

To  the  American  People Bayard  Taylor  91 

The  Education  We  Are  Fighting  For.  .Henry  Van  Dyke  93 

A  Hymn Robert  Grant  95 

The  Return John  Freeman  97 

Fighting  Battles  with  Speech  and  Pen 

Charles  Evans  Hughes  98 

Give  Us  Men Bishop  of  Exeter  102 

Be  Strong Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock  103 


THE   CONTENTS  vii 

PAGE 

The  Men  at  the  Front David  Lloyd  George  104 

The  Connaught  Rangers Winifred  M.  Letts  105 

"Baddest  Boy" 106 

Flag-Day  Address Woodrow  Wilson  108 

The  Star-Spangled   Banner Francis  Scott  Key  110 

Makers  of  the  Flag Franklin  K.  Lane  112 

The  Flag Edith  M.  Thomas  114 

Follow  the  Flag Theodore  Marburg  115 

^  The  Kid  Has  Gone  to  the  Colors 

William  Herschell  117 

Putting  the  Flag  on  the  Firing  Line  .  Theodore  Roosevelt  119 

Fame's  True  Applause.  ..George  Edward  Woodberry  121 

Stand  by  the  Flag 122 

The  Call  to  Battle Gilbert  Sheldon  122 

The  World  Significance  of  the  War.  William  H.  Taft  124 

Together Alfred  Austin  126 

Peace Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning  127 

The  Call  of  the  Republic George  Haven  Putnam  128 

The   Building   of  the   Ship 

Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  129 

"It  Is  Time" Lloyd  Roberts  130 

A  Simple  Song  for  America.  . .  .Karle  Wilson  Baker  130 

Our  Moral  Leadership Edmund  J.  James  132 

"Oh  Mother  of  a  Mighty  Race" 

William  Cullen  Bryant  134 

On  Patrol 136 

England  Unsheathes  the  Qword.  .  .Herbert  H.  A squith  138 

The  Call R.  E.  Vernede  140 

An  Invocation Beatrice  Barry  142 

The  Spires  of  Oxford Winifred  M.  Letts  143 

To  THE  Army! King  Albert  144 

t.    The  Prayer Amelia  Josephine  Burr  145 

<cr    In  Flanders  Fields John  McCrae  147 


viii  THE  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Belgium  Shall  Rise Cardinal  Mercier  148 

To  Belgium Eden  Phillpotts  151 

Liege Sir  William  Watson  152 

La  Brabanconne Florence  Attenhorough  153 

The  Fighters  of  France Anatole  France  154 

The  Marseillaise Rouget  de  Lisle  156 

Your  Lad,  and  My  Lad Randall  Parrish  157 

Lille,  Laon,  and  St.  Die John  H.  Finley  159 

ViviANi  AT  Springfield 162 

The  Fatherland James  Russell  Lowell  165 

The  Blue  and  the  Gray  in  France  .  George  M.  Mayo  165 

A  Welcome  to  Marshall  Joffre.  .Charles  S.  Whitman  166 

The  Nightingales  of  Flanders  .Grace  H.  Conkling  168 

Somewhere  in  France Harvey  M.  Watts  169 

The  Children  of  France Marshal  J  of  re  170 

The  Victor  of  the  Marne 

Robert  Underwood  Johnson  170 

Grand-pere Robert  W.  Service  171 

Children  of  France Gertrude  Robinson  172 

Fraternal  Message  to  America.  .  .Gabriele  d'Annunzio  174 

On  the  Italian  Front George  E.  Woodberry  175 

Declaration  of  War  by  Italy  .Gabriele  d'Annunzio  175 

Out  of  Rome Clinton  Scollard  176 

To  THE  Young  Men  of  Italy.  .  .Giuseppe  Mazzini  VTl 

Serbia's  Sacrifice Major  Stobart  180 

Serbia Amelia  Josephine  Burr  181 

Scarred 182 

Salonika  in  November Brian  Hill  182 

Woman's  Duty Mrs.  Percy  V.  Pennybacker  184 

The  Brave  at  Home Thomas  B.  Read  186 

To  Woman Lawrence  Binyon  187 

Mothering H.  Buchanan  Ryley  187 

To  A  Mother Eden  Phillpotts  188 

Any  Woman  to  a  Soldier.  .  .Grace  Ellery  Channing  189 


THE  CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

Labor  Must  Bear  Its  Part Woodroiv  Wilson  191 

The  Keepers  of  the  Light Theodosia  Garrison  194 

A  Song  of  Service Theodosia  Garrison  194 

More  Than  a  Name Samuel  Gompers  196 

What  the  State  Is Sir  William  Jones  198 

Soldiers  of  Freedom Katharine  Lee  Bates  199 

The  Khaki Henry  Edward  Wartter  200 

Lessons  of  the  War Theodore  Roosevelt  201 

America  Resurgent Wendell  Phillip  Stafford  202 

In  Forty  West 203 

Soldiers  All Daniel  M.  Henderson  204 

Comrades  in  a  Common  Cause Bishop  Brent  206 

Britons  and  Guests Edith  M.  Thomas  207 

Christ  in  Flanders A  British  Soldier  208 

Onward,  Christian  Soldiers S.  Baring-Gould  209 

England's  Case Herbert  H.  Asquith  211 

Canada  to  England Wilfred  Campbell  211 

Australia  to  England Archibald  T.  Strong  213 

India  to  England Nizamat  Jung  214 

A  Message  to  Ireland Florence  Gof  215 

Going  Home Robert  W.  Service  216 

Canada  Stands  Fast Sir  Robert  Laird  Borden  218 

To  Canada Katharine  Lee  Bates  219 

A  Cry  from  the  Canadian  Hills.  .Lilian  Leveridge  221 

The  Reckoning Theodore  G.  Roberts  223 

A  League  of  Nations Woodrow  Wilson  225 

A  Prayer  in  Time  of  War Alfred  Noyes  226 

America  to  France  and  Great  Britain 

Harold  T.  Pulsifer  227 

The  Challenge H.  T.  Suddrith  229 

The  Holy  Quest Rabbi  Stephen  S.  Wise  230 

Hands  All  Round Alfred  Tennyson  232 

Carry  On  ! John  Oxenham  233 


4 

X  THE   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

To  THE  United  States  of  America  . .  Robert  Bridges  234 

The  Western  Land Caroline  Hazard  234 

A  Message  to  America Romain  Rolland  236 

America  the  Beautiful Katharine  Lee  Bates  237 

We  Shall  Remember  Them  ....  James  Terry  White  239 

Keep  the  Road  of  Democracy  Open  . .  William  E.  Borah  240 

Resurrexit Grace  Ellery  Channing  243 

The  Road  to  France Daniel  M.  Henderson  244 

The  Guards  Came  Through Conan  Doyle  245 

World  Reconstruction Oscar  S.  Straus  248 

Judgment  Day John  Oxenham  249 

The  Universal  Peace Alfred  Tennyson  249 

The  Year  Before  Us John  Timothy  Stone  251 

Lord,  Give  Me  a  Place 253 

God  Save  Our  Splendid  Men 253 

The  Red  Cross Woodrow  Wilson  255 

Behind  the  Guns Henry  Edward  Warner  259 

The  Red  Cross  Spirit  Speaks John  H.  Finley  260 

Grey  Knitting Katherine  Hale  261 

The  Task  of  the  Red  Cross Newton  D.  Baker  263 

Youth  Speaks  to  Youth 264 

The  Red  Cross  Nurses Thomas  L.  Masson  265 

With  the  American  Red  Cross  in  Frace 

Henry  P.  Davison  267 

The  Feet  of  the  Children Nora  A .  Smith  269 

When  the  Boys  Come  Home John  Hay  271 


A  LIST  OF  THE  PORTRAITS 

FACING    PAGE 

Woodrow  Wilson Frontispiece 

Charles  Evans  Hughes 8 

David  Lloyd  George 14 

Albert  Shaw 28 

Frank  O.  Lowden 34 

Hamilton  Holt 42 

Talcott  Williams 46 

Theodore  Roosevelt          50 

Arthur  James  Balfour        54 

Elihu  Root 66 

Marion  LeRoy  Burton 76 

Lyman  Abbott 80 

Franklin  K.  Lane 112 

William  Howard  Toft 124 

George  H.  Putnam 128 

Edmund  J.  James 132 

King  Albert 144 

Cardinal  Mercier 148 

M.  Anatole  France        154 

Rene  Raphael  Viviani 162 

Charles  S.  Whitman 166 

Marshal  J  off  re 170 

Gabriele  D'Annunzio 174 

Major  St.  Clair  Stobart 180 

Samuel  Gompers 196 

Bishop  Brent 206 

Sir  Robert  Laird  Borden 218 

Rabbi  Stephen  S.  Wise 230 

Romain  Rolland 236 

Oscar  S.  Straus        248 

John  Timothy  Stone 251 

Newton  D.  Baker 263 

xi 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The  compilers  of  this  volume  extend  their  grateful  acknowl- 
edgments to  the  following  authors  and  publishers  for  permission  to 

use  copyrighted  selections: 

Harold  T.   Pulsifer,   of   The  Outlook,   for   "Clarion"   and   "The 

Riderless  Horse,"  published  by  the  Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 
Marion  Couthouy  Smith  for  "A  Thanksgiving." 
Doran  &  Co.  for  John  Oxenham's  "What  Did  You  See  Out 

There,  My   Lad,"    "Dies   Irae— Dies   Pads,"   and   "Carry   On"; 

Amelia  Josephine  Burr's  "The  Prayer,"   and  the  selection  from 

Major  Stobart's  Plaining  Sword  in  Serbia  and  Elsewhere. 
Katrina  Trask  for  "The  New  Banner." 
Mrs.   Alice   Corbin   Henderson  and    The    Yale  Review  for   "A 

Litany  in  the  Desert";   The   Yale  Review  for  Winifred  M.  Letts' 

"The  Connaught  Rangers." 

Albert  Shaw  for  his  editorial  in  the  Review  of  Reviews,  "Victory 

before  Peace." 

Small,  Maynard  &  Company  for  Richard  Hovey's  "Comrades." 
Elias  Lieberman  and  the  Cornhill  Company  for   "I   Am  an 

American." 

Frederick  A.Stokes  &  Co.  for  Alfred  Noyes'  "The  Searchlights" 

and  "A  Prayer  in  Time  of  War." 

The    Macmillan    Company    for    Vachel    Lindsay's    "Abraham 

Lincoln  Walks  at  Midnight,"  from   The  Congo  and  Other  Poems; 

Archibald  T.  Strong's  "Australia  to  England,"  and  Eden  Phillpotts' 

"To  Belgium." 

E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.  for  Winifred  M.  Letts'  "Golden  Boys"  and 

"The  Spires  of  Oxford,  from  The  Spires  of  Oxford." 
Virginia  Eraser  Boyle  for  "Union." 

Collier's  Weekly  for  Mary  Perry  King's  "Hymn  of  Freedom." 
William  Pierson  Merrill  for  "Earth  Calls  to  Heaven." 
John  Jerome  Rooney  for  "The  Little  Star  in  the  Window." 
The  Outlook  for  the  stanza  from  Hermann  Hagedorn's  "Ode  of 

Dedication,"  Daniel  M.  Henderson's  "Soldiers  All,"  and  Harold  T. 

Pulsifer's  "America  to  France  and  Great  Britain." 

Harvey  M.  Watts  for  " Over  There "  and  "Somewhere  in  France." 
Robert  Grant  for  "A  Hymn,"  which  appeared  in  Scribner's 

Edith "m.  Thomas  for  "The  Flag." 

William  Herschell  for  "The  Kid  Has  Gone  to  the  Colors,"  copy- 
right by  The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company,  Indianapolis. 

xiii 


xiv  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Theodore  Marburg  for  "Follow  the  Flag." 

George  E.  Woodberry  for  "Fame's  True  Applause"  and  "On  the 
Italian  Front." 

Lloyd  Roberts  for  the  stanza  from  "Come  Quietly,  Britain." 

Karle  Wilson  Baker  for  "A  Simple  Song  for  America." 

The  New  York  Times  for  Beatrice  Barry's  "Invocation"  and 
Edith  M.  Thomas'  "Britons  and  Guests." 

Randall  Parrish  for  "Your  Lad,  and  My  Lad." 

John  H.  Finley  for  "Lille,  Laon,  and  St.  Die." 

Grace  Hazard  Conkling  and  Everybody's  Magazine  for  "The 
Nightingales  of  Flanders." 

Thomas  L.  Masson,  editor  of  Life,  for  his  "Red  Cross  Niu-ses," 
which  appeared  in  the  Red  Cross  Magazine,  and  Gertrude  Robinson's 
"The  Children  of  France,"  published  in  Life. 

Clinton  Scollard  for  "Out  of  Rome." 

John  Lane  Company  for  the  selection  from  Emile  Cammaerts' 
"King  and  Emperor." 

AmeUa  Josephine  Burr  and  Everybody's  Magazine  for  "Serbia." 

The  Living  Church  for  Lieutenant  Ryley's  "Mothering,"  which 
recently  appeared  in  its  columns. 

Grace  Ellery  Channing  for  "Any  Woman  to  a  Soldier,'^'  which 
appeared  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post,  and  "Resurrexit,"  which 
appeared  in  the  Boston  Transcript. 

McClure's  Magazine  for  Theodosia  Garrison's  "Keepers  of  the 
Light"  and  "A  Song  of  Service." 

Katharine  Lee  Bates  for  "America  the  Beautiful,"  pubHshed  by 
Thomas  Y.  Crowell  and  Co.,  and  "Soldiers  of  Freedom,"  which 
appeared  in  Good  Housekeeping. 

Wendell  Phillip  Stafford  and  the  Washington  Evening  Star  for 
"America  Resurgent." 

Fleming  H.  Revell  for  Wilfred  Campbell's  "  Canada  to  England." 

Caroline  Hazard  for  "The  Western  Land." 

The  National  Arts  Club  for  Daniel  M.  Henderson's  "The  Road 
to  France." 

Henry  Edward  Warner  and  the  Richmond  Times  Dispatch  for 
"Behind  the  Guns." 

Nora  Archibald  Smith  for  "The  Feet  of  the  Children,"  which 
appeared  in  The  Outlook. 

Katherine  Hale  for  "Grey  Knitting." 

"Going  Home,"  "Grand-pere,"  and  "Carry  On"  are  from 
Rhymes  of  a  Red  Cross  Man,  published  by  Barse  &  Hopkins,  New 
York. 

The  selections  from  John  Hay,  Bret  Harte  and  Laurence  Bmyon 
are  used  by  permission  of  and  by  special  arrangement  with  the 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  Boston. 


THE    PREFACE  \ 

The  war  at  last  is  calling  forth  prose  and  poetry  to 
match  its  cosmic  character.  Our  President's  addresses 
easily  average  higher  taken  as  a  group  than  any  others 
made  on  either  side  of  the  ocean  in  intellectual  compre- 
hensiveness, moral  elevation,  restrained  feeling,  and  that 
rhythmic  quality  which  one  detects  in  some  of  Lincoln's 
greater  speeches. 

But  many  other  addresses  are  close  seconds  to  our 
President's.  Never  in  any  previous  national  or  world 
crisis  have  so  many  speakers  risen  to  the  dignity  of  the 
occasion.  Even  truer  is  this  of  verse,  and  more  poems 
which  promise  to  live  have  perhaps  been  written  since 
the  war  began  than  in  any  other  period  so  brief  of  human 
history. 

The  Spirit  of  Democracy — unlike  other  books  —  aims  to 
assemble  in  convenient  arrangement,  for  school  purposes, 
many  of  the  most  stirring  speeches  and  most  virile  poems 
applicable  to  the  present  situation.  In  preparation  of  this 
book  we  have  hoped  to  render  it  easier  for  busy  teachers 
to  avoid  the  more  conventional  readings  and  declama- 
tions, and  instead  to  give  their  pupils  the  prose  and  verse 
certain  to  make  them  more  loyal  and  intelligent  patriots. 

The  speeches  of  the  war  have  been  open  to  the  entire 
world,  but  those  brought  together  in  this  volume  are 
believed  to  represent  the  great  cause  with  special  fitness. 

As  to  the  verse,  after  the  consideration  of  much  of 
the  bewildering  variety  that  has  appeared,  we  have 
included  in  this  volume  poems  which  will,  it  is  hoped, 
reflect  all  of  the  various  considerations  involved. 

L.   P.    P. 
G.   W.   P. 

XV 


Ci^e  amencan'?^  Creeti 

"  T  BELIEVE  in  the  United  States  of 
America  as  a  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people, 
whose  just  powers  are  derived  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed;  a  democracy  in 
a  republic;  a  sovereign  Nation  of  many 
sovereign  States;  a  perfect  Union,  one  and 
inseparable,  established  upon  those  prin- 
ciples of  freedom,  equality,  justice,  and 
humanity  for  which  American  patriots 
sacrificed  their  lives  and  fortunes. 

"/  therefore  believe  it  is  my  duty  to  my 
country  to  love  it;  to  support  its  Consti- 
tution; to  obey  its  laws;  to  respect  its  flag; 
and  to  defend  it  against  all  enemies." 


XVI 


THE 
SPIRIT  OF  DEMOCRACY 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  WAR   MESSAGE^ 

WOODROW  WILSON 
Gentlemen  oj  the  Congress: 

I  have  called  the  Congress  into  extraordinary  session 
because  there  are  serious,  very  serious,  choices  of  policy 
to  be  made,  and  made  immediately,  which  it  was  neither 
right  nor  constitutionally  permissible  that  I  should  assume 
the  responsibility  of  making. 

On  the  third  of  February  last  I  officially  laid  before  you 
the  extraordinary  announcement  of  the  Imperial  German 
Government  that  on  and  after  the  first  day  of  February 
it  was  its  purpose  to  put  aside  all  restraints  of  law  or  of 
humanity  and  use  its  submarines  to  sink  every  vessel  that 
sought  to  approach  either  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  or  the  western  coasts  of  Europe  or  any  of  the 
ports  controlled  by  the  enemies  of  Germany  within  the 
Mediterranean. 

That  had  seemed  to  be  the  object  of  the  German  sub- 
marine warfare  earlier  in  the  war,  but  since  April  of  last 
year  the  Imperial  Government  had  somewhat  restrained 
the  commanders  of  its  undersea  craft  in  conformity  with 
its  promise  then  given  to  us  that  passenger  boats  should 


1  From  the  speech  delivered  April  2,  191 7. 
2  I 


2  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

not  be  sunk  and  that  due  warning  would  be  given  to  all 
other  vessels  which  its  submarines  might  seek  to  destroy 
when  no  resistance  was  offered  or  escape  attempted,  and 
care  taken  that  their  crews  were  given  at  least  a  fair 
chance  to  save  their  lives  in  their  open  boats. 

The  new  policy  has  swept  every  restriction  aside.  Ves- 
sels of  every  kind,  whatever  their  flag,  their  character, 
their  cargo,  their  destination,  their  errand,  have  been 
ruthlessly  sent  to  the  bottom  without  warning  and  with- 
out thought  of  help  or  mercy  for  those  on  board, 
the  vessels  of  friendly  neutrals  along  with  those  of 
belligerents. 

When  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  26th  of  February 
last  I  thought  it  would  suffice  to  assert  our  neutral  rights 
with  arms,  our  right  to  use  the  seas  against  unlawful 
interference,  our  right  to  keep  our  people  safe  against 
unlawful  violence.  But  armed  neutrality,  it  now  appears, 
is  impracticable.  Because  submarines  are  in  effect  out- 
laws, when  used  as  the  German  submarines  have  been 
used  against  merchant  shipping,  it  is  impossible  to  defend 
ships  against  their  attacks,  as  the  law  of  nations  has 
assumed  that  merchantmen  would  defend  themselves 
against  privateers  or  cruisers,  visible  craft  giving  chase 
upon  the  open  sea.  It  is  common  prudence  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, grim  necessity  indeed,  to  endeavor  to 
destroy  them  before  they  have  shown  their  own  intention. 
They  must  be  dealt  with  upon  sight,  if  dealt  with  at  all. 

With  a  profound  sense  of  the  solemn  and  even  tragical 
character  of  the  step  I  am  taking  and  of  the  grave  respon- 
sibilities which  it  involves,  but  in  unhesitating  obedience 
to  what  I  deem  my  constitutional  duty,  I  advise  that  the 
Congress  declare  the  recent  course  of  the  Imperial  German 


THE   PRESIDENT'S  WAR   MESSAGE  3 

Government  to  be  in  fact  nothing  less  than  war  against 
the  Government  and  people  of  the  United  States,  that 
it  formally  accept  the  status  of  belligerent  which  has 
thus  been  thrust  upon  it  and  that  it  take  immediate  steps 
not  only  to  put  the  country  in  a  more  thorough  state  of 
defense,  but  also  to  exert  all  its  power  and  employ  all  its 
resources  to  bring  the  Government  of  the  German  Empire 
to  terms  and  end  the  war. 

The  world  must  be  made  safe  for  democracy.  Its  peace 
must  be  planted  upon  the  tested  foundations  of  political 
liberty.  We  have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We  desire  no 
conquests,  no  dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for 
ourselves,  no  material  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  we 
shall  freely  make.  We  are  but  one  of  the  champions  of 
the  rights  of  mankind.  We  shall  be  satisfied  when  those 
rights  have  been  made  as  secure  as  the  faith  and  the  free- 
dom of  nations  can  make  them. 

Just  because  we  fight  without  rancor  and  without  selfish 
object,  seeking  nothing  for  ourselves  but  what  we  shall 
wish  to  share  with  all  free  people,  we  shall,  I  feel  confident, 
conduct  our  operations  as  belligerents  without  passion 
and  ourselves  observe  with  proud  punctilio  the  principles 
of  right  and  of  fair  play  we  profess  to  be  fighting  for. 

It  will  be  all  the  easier  for  us  to  conduct  ourselves  as 
belligerents  in  a  high  spirit  of  right  and  fairness  because 
we  act  without  animus,  not  in  enmity  toward  a  people  or 
with  the  desire  to  bring  any  injury  or  disadvantage  upon 
them,  but  only  in  armed  opposition  to  an  irresponsible 
government  which  has  thrown  aside  all  considerations  of 
humanity  and  of  right  and  is  running  amuck. 

We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  German  people.  We 
have  no  feeling  toward  them  but  one  of  sympathy  and 


4  THE   SPIRIT   OP   DEMOCRACY 

friendship.  It  was  not  upon  their  impulse  that  their 
government  acted  in  entering  the  war.  It  was  not  with 
their  previous  knowledge  or  approval.  It  was  a  war 
determined  upon  as  wars  used  to  be  determined  upon  in 
the  old  unhappy  days,  when  peoples  were  nowhere  con- 
sulted by  their  rulers  and  wars  were  provoked  and  waged 
in  the  interest  of  dynasties  or  of  little  groups  of  ambitious 
men  who  were  accustomed  to  use  their  fellow  men  as  pawns 
and  tools. 

It  is  a  distressing  and  oppressive  duty,  gentlemen  of 
the  Congress,  which  I  have  performed  in  thus  addressing 
you.  There  are,  it  may  be,  many  months  of  fiery  trial  and 
sacrifice  ahead  of  us.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lead  this 
great,  peaceful  people  into  war,  into  the  most  terrible  and 
disastrous  of  all  wars,  civilization  itself  seeming  to  be 
in  the  balance. 

But  the  right  is  more  precious  than  peace,  and  we  shall 
fight  for  the  things  which  we  have  always  carried  nearest 
our  hearts — for  democracy,  for  the  right  of  those  who 
submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their  own  Govern- 
ments, for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small  nations,  for  a 
universal  dominion  of  right  by  such  a  concert  of  free  people 
as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to  all  nations  and  make 
the  world  itself  at  last  free. 

To  such  a  task  we  can  dedicate  our  lives  and  our  for- 
tunes, everything  that  we  are  and  everything  that  we  have, 
with  the  pride  of  those  who  know  that  the  day  has  come 
when  America  is  privileged  to  spend  her  blood  and  her 
might  for  the  principles  that  gave  her  birth  and  happiness 
and  the  peace  which  she  has  treasured. 

God  helping  her,  she  can  do  no  other. 


AMERICA 
AMERICA 

SAMUEL  FRANCIS  SMITH 

My  country,  't  is  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty. 

Of  thee  I  sing; 
Land  where  my  fathers  died. 
Land  of  the  Pilgrims'  pride. 
From  every  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  ring. 

My  native  country,  thee, 
Land  of  the  noble  free, 

Thy  name  I  love; 
I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills ; 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills 

Like  that  above. 

Let  music  swell  the  breeze. 
And  ring  from  all  the  trees 

Sweet  Freedom's  song; 
Let  mortal  tongues  awake, 
Let  all  that  breathe  partake, 
Let  rocks  their  silence  break, 

The  sound  prolong. 

Our  fathers'  God,  to  Thee, 
Author  of  liberty, 

To  Thee  we  sing; 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  Freedom's  holy  light ; 
Protect  us  by  Thy  might. 

Great  God,  our  King. 


THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

CLARION 
HAROLD  T.  PULSIFER 

God  send  a  prophet  tongued  with  flame 
To  sear  the  Nation's  self-content; 
Lest  writ  in  words  of  livid  shame 
Ye  read,  eternal  banishment. 

Dread  banishment  from  those  High  Halls 
Your  fathers  builded  wide  and  deep. 
Once,  twice,  and  thrice  the  trumpet  calls, - 
How  long  shall  ye  lie  bound  in  sleep? 

The  skies  are  dark  with  homing  ghosts : 
With  Belgian  blood  the  world  is  red: 
Through  the  salt  sea  in  piteous  hosts 
Still  troop  the  phantoms  of  your  dead ! 

Shrill-voiced  your  chosen  leaders  cry 
The  need  of  freedom  for  your  gold. 
Thank  God  the  men  at  Concord  lie 
Too  deep  to  know  what  ye  have  sold. 

Was  it  for  this  the  ancient  hand 
Carved  out  the  riches  of  your  soil? 
Then  let  the  sea  blot  out  the  land, 
The  storm  blot  out  the  wasted  toil ! 

Blot  out  the  dream  of  Washington, 
Blot  out  the  vision  Lincoln  knew, 
Blot  out  their  hope  of  air  and  sun, 
Bring  back  the  night  they  overthrew ! 


YE   THAT   HAVE   FAITH 

Once,  twice,  and  thrice  the  trumpet  calls, - 
The  sword  is  nigh,  the  sword  is  come! 
Awake,  O  watchmen  on  the  walls. 
And  lift  your  dead  hands  to  the  drum! 


YE   THAT   HAVE  FAITH 

OWEN  SEAMAN 

Ye  that  have  faith  to  look  with  fearless  eyes 
Beyond  the  tragedy  of  a  w^orld  at  strife. 
And  know  that  out  of  death  and  night  shall  rise 
The  dawn  of  ampler  life, 

Rejoice,  whatever  anguish  rend  the  heart. 
That  God  has  given  you  a  priceless  dower. 
To  live  in  these  great  times  and  have  your  part 
In  Freedom's  crowning  hour. 

That  ye  may  tell  your  sons  who  see  the  light 
High  in  the  heavens  —  their  heritage  to  take — 
"I  saw  the  powers  of  Darkness  put  to  flight; 
I  saw  the  morning  break." 


THE   MEANING   OF   AMERICANISM ^ 

CHARLES  EVANS   HUGHES 

We  want  something  more  than  thrills  in  our  patriotism 
—  we  want  thought ;  we  want  intelligence  —  a  new  birth 
of  the  sentiment  of  unity  in  the  nation. 

My  dream  of  America  is  America  represented  in  public 
office  by  its  best  men  working  entirely  for  the  good  of  the 
Republic  and  according  to  the  laws  and  ordinances 
established  by  the  people  for  the  government  of  their 
conduct  and  not  for  the  personal  or  political  desires  and 
ambitions ;  America  working  her  institutions  as  they  were 
intended  to  be  worked,  with  men  whose  sole  object  shall 
be  to  secure  the  end  for  which  the  offices  were  designed. 

And  if  one  will  throw  his  personal  fortunes  to  the 
winds,  if  he  will  perform  in  each  place,  high  or  low,  the 
manifest  obligation  of  that  place,  we  will  soon  have  those 
victories  of  democracy  which  will  make  the  Fourth  of 
July  in  its  coming  years  a  far  finer  and  nobler  day  than 
it  has  ever  been  in  the  fortunate  years  of  the  past. 

When  we  are  thinking  of  the  ideals  of  democracy,  we 
are  thinking  of  the  schools,  and  we  deplore  every  condi- 
tion in  which  we  find  man  lower  than  he  should  be  under 
a  free  government,  and  we  want  greater  victories  of 
democracy  that  the  level  of  success  shall  be  raised. 

We  are  not  a  rash  people;  we  are  not  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  militarism.  We  are  not  anxious  to  get  into 
trouble,  but  if  anybody  thinks  that  the  spirit  of  service 
and   sacrifice    is    lost    and    that   we   have  not    the   old 

iProm  the  speech  delivered  at  Easthampton  L.  I.,  July  4,  1916. 

8 


T'opy right  l)y  Brfiwn  Bro 


Charles  Evans  Hughes 


THE   MEANING   OF   AMERICANISM  9 

sentiment  of  self-respect,  he  doesn't  understand  the 
United   States. 

We  want  patriotism,  and  I  don't  think  that  we  are 
going  to  lose  it  very  soon,  although  I  do  devoutly  hope 
that  out  of  the  perils  and  difficulties  of  this  time  may 
come  a  new  birth  of  the  sentiment  of  unity.  I  do  hope 
that  in  the  midst  of  all  these  troublesome  conditions  we 
will  have  a  better  realization  of  our  national  strength 
and  the  import  of  our  democratic  institutions. 

The  boy  is  going  to  thrill  at  the  sight  of  the  flag  to-day 
just  as  he  did  fifty  years  or  one  hundred  years  ago.  We 
are  all  going  to  thrill  when  we  hear  the  words  of  our 
national  hymn,  and  we  think  of  the  long  years  of  struggle 
and  determination  that  have  brought  us  to  this  hour. 
But  we  want  something  more  than  thrills  in  our  patri- 
otism; we  want  thought,  we  want  intelligence. 

Not  vast  extent  of  territory,  not  great  population,  not 
simply  extraordinary  statistics  of  national  wealth,  al- 
though they  speak  in  eloquent  words  of  energy  and 
managing  ability;  but  what  we  need  more  than  anything 
else  is  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  ideals  of 
democracy.  Those  ideals  are  that  every  man  shall  have 
a  fair  and  equal  chance  according  to  his  talents.  It  is 
not  an  ideal  of  democracy  that  one  alone  shall  emerge 
because  of  conspicuous  ability,  but  that  there  shall  be  a 
great  advance  of  the  plain  people  of  the  country,  upon 
whom  the  prosperity  of  the  country  depends. 

Wherever  the  Stars  and  Stripes  float  there  is  a  shrine. 

It  is  all  very  well  to  talk  about  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  the  strong  sentiments  it  contains, 
but  that  was  backed  by  men  who  couldn't  have  committed 
it  to  memory,  men  who  couldn't  have  repeated  it,  but 


lo  THE   SPIRIT   OF    DEMOCRACY 

men  in  whose  lives  was  the  incarnation  of  independence 
and  whose  spirit  was  breathed  into  that  immortal  docu- 
ment. 

It  is  because  we  had  men  who  were  willing  to  suffer, 
to  die,  to  venture,  to  sacrifice,  that  we  have  a  country, 
and  it  is  only  by  that  spirit  that  we  will  ever  be  able 
to  keep  a  country.  I  love  to  think  of  those  hardy  men 
coming  here  with  the  same  spirit  that  led  the  pioneers 
to  the  West  and  Farther  West,  the  same  spirit  which  in 
every  part  of  our  land  has  accounted  for  our  development. 

Quiet  men,  not  noisy  men;  sensible  men,  not  foolish 
men;  straight  men,  honest  men,  dependable  men,  real 
men  —  that  is  what  we  mean  by  Americanism. 

A  THANKSGIVING 

MARION  COUTHOUY  SMITH 

Not  for  our  harvest. 

Our  fields'  increase, 
Not  for  our  safety. 

Our  vaunted  peace, 
Our  word-clad  justice, 

Oiu-  light-flung  gift, 
But  for  hearts  that  waken. 

For  dreams  that  Hft  — 
We  praise  Thee,  0  God 

For  Belgium's  sword 

That  faltered  never. 
For  the  splendid  woe 

Of  her  lost  endeavour ; 
For  the  great  free  peoples 


A   THANKSGIVING  ii 

In  grim  advance, 
For  the  might  of  England, 
The  light  of  France — 
We  praise  Thee,  O  God! 

For  Italy's  flower 

Of  fearless  youth; 
For  nations  waking 

From  dream  to  truth; 
For  the  flame  of  Serbia 

That  mounts  in  death, 
The  fire  that  fails  not 

With  blood  and  breath — 
We  praise  Thee,  0  God ! 

For  dull  ease  broken 

By  sharpest  dole. 
For  the  dart  that  is  driven 

Through  flesh  to  soul ; 
For  wrath  made  sterner 

By  right's  eclipse. 
For  brave  songs  breaking 

From  pain-wiung  lips  — 
We  praise  Thee,  0  God! 

For  faith  that  is  bom 

From]_the  burning  nest, 
For  the  spirit's  flight 
On  its  starward  quest. 
For  peace  that  dwells 

At  the  heart  of  strife, 
For  death  that  scatters 

The  seed  of  life  — 

We  praise  Thee,  O  God! 


12  THE   SPIRIT   OP   DEMOCRACY 

AMERICA  1 

BAYARD  TAYLOR 

Foreseen  in  the  vision  of  sages, 

Foretold  when  martyrs  bled, 
She  was  bom  of  the  longing  of  ages, 
By  the  trath  of  the  noble  dead 
And  the  faith  of  the  living  fed ! 
No  blood  in  her  lightest  veins 
Frets  at  remembered  chains, 
Nor  shame  of  bondage  has  bowed  her  head. 
In  her  form  and  features  still 
The  unblenching  Puritan  will, 
Cavalier  honor.  Huguenot  grace. 
The  Quaker  truth  and  sweetness. 
And  the  strength  of  the  danger-girdled  race 
Of  Holland,  blend  in  a  proud  completeness. 
From  the  homes  of  all,  where  her  being  began, 
She  took  what  she  gave  to  Man; 
Justice,  that  knew  no  station, 
Belief,  as  soul  decreed. 
Free  air  for  aspiration. 
Free  force  for  independent  deed ! 
She  takes,  but  to  give  again, 
As  the  sea  returns  the  rivers  in  rain; 
And  gathers  the  chosen  of  her  seed 
From  the  hunted  of  every  crown  and  creed. 
Her  Germany  dwells  by  a  gentler  Rhine; 
Her  Ireland  sees  the  old  sunburst  shine; 
Her  France  pursues  some  dream  divine; 
Her  Norway  keeps  his  mountain  pine ; 


1  From  "The  National  Ode." 


AMERICA  13 

Her  Italy  waits  by  the  western  brine; 

And  broad-based  iinder  all, 
Is  planted  England's  oaken-hearted  mood, 
As  rich  in  fortitude 
As  e'er  went  worldward  from  the  island-wall ! 

Fused  in  her  candid  light, 
To  one  strong  race  all  races  here  unite : 
Tongues  melt  in  hers,  hereditary  foemen 
Forget  their  sword  and  slogan,  kith  and  clan: 

'Twas  glory,  once,  to  be  a  Roman: 
She  makes  it  glory,  now,  to  be  a  man ! 


AMERICA   ENTERS   THE   WARi 

DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE 

I  am  the  last  man  in  the  world,  knowing  for  three  years 
what  our  difficulties  have  been,  what  our  anxieties  have 
been,  and  what  our  fears  have  been  —  I  am  the  last  man 
in  the  world  to  say  that  the  succor  which  is  given  from 
America  is  not  in  itself  something  to  rejoice  at,  and  to 
rejoice  at  greatly.  But  I  also  say  that  I  value  more  the 
knowledge  that  America  is  going  to  win  a  right  to  be  at 
the  conference  table  when  the  terms  of  peace  are  discussed. 

That  conference  will  settle  the  destiny  of  nations  and 
the  course  of  human  life  for  God  knows  how  many  years. 
It  would  have  been  a  tragedy,  a  tragedy  for  mankind,  if 
America  had  not  been  there,  and  there  with  all  her  influ- 
ence and  her  power. 

I  can  see  peace,  not  a  peace  to  be  a  beginning  of  war, 
not  a  peace  which  will  be  an  endless  preparation  for  strife 
and  bloodshed,  but  a  real  peace.  The  world  is  an  old 
world.  You  have  never  had  the  racking  wars  that  have 
rolled  like  an  ocean  over  Europe. 

Europe  has  always  lived  under  the  menace  of  the  sword. 
When  this  war  began,  two  thirds  of  Europe  was  under 
autocratic  rule.  Now  it  is  the  other  way  about,  and 
democracy  means  peace.  The  democracy  of  France 
hesitated;  the  democracy  of  Italy  hesitated  long  before 
it  entered;  the  democracy  of  this  country  sprang  back 
with  a  shudder  and  would  never  have  entered  that  cal- 
dron had  it  not  been  for  the  invasion  of  Belgium;  and  if 


1  From  a  speech  delivered  before  the  American  Luncheon  Club  of 
London,  April  12,  1917. 

14 


Copyright  by   Underwood  &  Underwood 

David  Lloyd  George 


AMERICA   ENTERS   THE   WAR  15 

Prussia  had  been  a  democracy,  there  would  have  been 
no  war. 

Many  strange  things  have  happened  in  this  war,  aye* 
and  stranger  things  will  come,  and  they  are  coming 
rapidly.  There  are  times  in  history  when  this  world 
spins  so  leisurely  along  its  destined  course  that  it  seems 
for  centuries  to  be  at  a  standstill.  There  are  awful  times 
when  it  rushes  along  at  giddying  pace,  covering  the  track 
of  centuries  in  a  year.  Those  are  the  times  we  are  living 
in  now. 

To-day  we  are  waging  one  of  the  most  devastating  wars 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  To-morrow,  to-morrow, 
not  perhaps  distant  to-morrows,  war  may  be  abolished 
forever  from  the  category  of  human  crimes.  This  may 
be  something  like  that  fierce  outburst  of  winter  which 
we  now  are  witnessing  before  we  complete  the  time  for 
the  summer. 

It  is  written  of  those  gallant  men  who  won  that  victory 
on  Monday,  from  Canada,  from  Australia,  and  from  this 
old  country — it  has  proved  that  in  spite  of  its  age  it  is 
not  decrepit— it  is  written  of  those  gallant  men  that 
they  attacked  at  dawn.  Fitting  work  for  the  dawn — to 
drive  out  of  forty  miles  of  French  soil  those  miscreants 
who  had  defiled  her  freedom.  They  attacked  with  the 
dawn.     It  is  a  significant  phrase. 

The  great  nations  represented  in  the  struggle  for  free- 
dom— they  are  the  heralds  of  dawn.  They  attacked 
with  dawn,  and  those  men  are  marching  forward  in  the 
full  radiance  of  that  dawn,  and  will  emerge  into  the  full 
light  of  a  perfect  day. 


i6  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

ARMAGEDDON 

SIR  EDWIN  ARNOLD 

Marching  down  to  Armageddon — 

Brothers,  stout  and  strong! 
Let  us  cheer  the  way  we  tread  on 

With  a  soldiers'  song ! 
Faint  we  by  the  weary  road, 

Or  fall  we  in  the  rout, 
Dirge  or  Paean,  Death  or  Triumph !  — 

Let  the  song  ring  out ! 

We  are  they  who  scorn  the  scomers  — 

Love  the  lovers  —  hate 
None  within  the  world's  four  comers  — 

All  must  share  one  fate; 
We  are  they  whose  common  banner 

Bears  no  badge  or  sign. 
Save  the  Light  which  dyes  it  white  — 

The  Hope  that  makes  it  shine. 

We  are  they  whose  bugle  rings, 

That  all  the  wars  may  cease; 
We  are  they  will  pay  the  IGngs 

Their  cruel  price  for  Peace; 
We  are  they  whose  steadfast  watchword 

Is  what  Christ  did  teach, — 
"Each  man  for  his  Brother  first  — 

And  Heaven,  then,  for  each." 

We  are  they  who  will  not  falter  — 

Many  swords  or  few — 
Till  we  make  this  Earth  the  altar 


ARMAGEDDON  17 

Of  a  worship  new;  ^ 

We  are  they  who  will  not  take 

From  palace,  priest,  or  code, 
A  meaner  Law  than  "Brotherhood"— 

A  lower  Lord  than  God. 

Marching  down  to  Armageddon — 

Brothers,  stout  and  strong ! 
Ask  not  why  the  way  we  tread  on 

Is  so  rough  and  long ! 
God  will  tell  us  when  our  spirits 

Grow  to  grasp  His  plan ! 
Let  us  do  our  part  to-day  — 

And  help  Him,  helping  Man ! 

Shall  we  even  curse  the  madness, 

Which  for  "ends  of  State" 
Dooms  us  to  the  long,  long  sadness 

Of  this  human  hate? 
Let  us  slay  in  perfect  pity 

Those  that  must  not  live; 
Vanquish,  and  forgive  our  foes  — 

Or  fall  —  and  still  forgive ! 

We  are  those  whose  unpaid  legions, 

In  free  ranks  arrayed, 
Massacred  in  many  regions  — 

Never  once  were  stayed : 
We  are  they  whose  torn  battalions, 

Trained  to  bleed,  not  fly. 
Make  our  agonies  a  triumph,— 

Conquer,  while  we  die ! 


1 8  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Therefore,  down  to  Armageddon  — 

Brothers,  bold  and  strong  — 
Gheer  the  glorious  way  we  tread  on 

With  this  soldier's  song! 
Let  the  armies  of  the  old  Flags 

March  in  silent  dread ! 
Death  and  Life  are  one  to  us. 

Who  fight  for  Quick  and  Dead ! 


WHAT   DID   YOU   SEE   OUT   THERE,    MY   LAD? 

JOHN  OXENHAM 

What  did  you  see  out  there,  my  lad, 
That  has  set  that  look  in  your  eyes? 

You  went  out  a  boy,  you  have  come  back  a  man. 

With  strange  new  depths  underneath  your  tan; 

What  was  it  you  saw  out  there,  my  lad. 
That  set  such  deeps  in  your  eyes? 

"Strange  ihings  —  and  sad  —  and  wonderful  — 

Things  that  I  scarce  can  tell  — 
I  have  been  in  the  sweep  of  the  Reaper's  scythe — 

With  God — and  Ghrist  —  and  hell. 

' '  I  have  seen  Christ  doing  Christly  deeds ; 

I  have  seen  the  Devil  at  play; 
I  have  grimped  to  the  sod  in  the  hand  of  God; 

I  have  seen  the  Godless  pray. 

"I  have  seen  Death  blast  out  suddenly 
From  a  clear  blue  summer  sky; 


WHAT   DID   YOU   SEE   OUT   THERE,   MY   LAD?      19 

I  have  slain  like  Cain  with  a  blazing  brain, 
I  have  heard  the  wounded  cry. 

"I  have  lain  among  the  dead, 

With  no  hope  but  to  die ; 
I  have  seen  them  killing  the  wounded  ones, 

I  have  seen  them  crucify. 

"I  have  seen  the  Devil  in  petticoats 

Wiling  the  souls  of  men ; 
I  have  seen  great  sinners  do  great  deeds, 

And  turn  to  their  sins  again. 

"I  have  sped  through  hells  of  fiery  hail. 

With  fell  red-fiu-y  shod; 
I  have  heard  the  whisper  of  a  voice, 

I  have  looked  in  the  face  of  God." 

You've  a  right  to  your  deep,  high  look,  my  lad, 

You  have  met  God  in  the  ways ; 

And  no  man  looks  into  His  face 

But  he  feels  it  all  his  days. 

You've  a  right  to  your  deep,  high  look,  my  lad. 

And  we  thank  Him  for  His  grace. 


AMERICA   FIRSTS 

WOODROW   WILSON 

There  is  a  very  great  thrill  to  be  had  from  the  memories 
of  the  American  Revolution,  but  the  American  Revolution 
was  a  beginning,  not  a  consummation,  and  the  duty  laid 
upon  us  by  that  beginning  is  the  duty  of  bringing  the 
things  then  begun  to  a  noble  triimiph  of  completion. 
For  it  seems  to  me  that  the  peculiarity  of  patriotism  in 
America  is  that  it  is  not  a  mere  sentiment.  It  is  an  active 
principle  of  conduct.  It  is  something  that  was  bom  into 
the  world,  not  to  please  it  but  to  regenerate  it.  It  is  some- 
thing that  was  bom  into  the  world  to  replace  systems  that 
had  preceded  it  and  to  bring  men  out  upon  a  new  plane 
of  privilege.  The  glory  of  the  men  whose  memories 
you  honor  and  perpetuate  is  that  they  saw  this  vision, 
and  it  was  a  vision  of  the  future.  It  was  a  vision  of  great 
days  to  come  when  a  little  handful  of  three  million  people 
upon  the  borders  of  a  single  sea  should  have  become  a 
great  multitude  of  free  men  and  women  spreading  across 
a  great  continent,  dominating  the  shores  of  two  oceans, 
and  sending  West  as  well  as  East  the  influences  of  indi- 
vidual freedom.  These  things  were  consciously  in  their 
minds  as  they  framed  the  great  government  which  was 
born  out  of  the  American  Revolution ;  and  every  time  we 
gather  to  perpetuate  their  memories  it  is  incumbent  upon 
us  that  we  should  be  worthy  of  recalling  them  and  that 
we  should  endeavor  by  every  means  in  our  power  to 
emulate  their  example. 

1  From  a  speech  delivered  at  Washington,  D.  C. ,  before  the  Daughters 
of  the  Axnerican  Revolution,  October  ii,  191 5. 

20 


AMERICA   FIRST  21 

The  American  Revolution  was  the  birth  of  a  nation; 
it  was  the  creation  of  a  great  free  repubhc  based  upon 
traditions  of  personal  liberty  which  theretofore  had 
been  confined  to  a  single  little  island,  but  which  it  was 
purposed  should  spread  to  all  mankind.  And  the  singular 
fascination  of  American  history  is  that  it  has  been  a 
process  of  constant  re-creation,  of  making  over  again  in 
each  generation  the  thing  which  was  conceived  at  first. 
You.  know  how  peculiarly  necessary  that  has  been  in  our 
case,  because  America  has  not  grown  by  the  mere  multi- 
plication of  the  original  stock.  It  is  easy  to  preserve 
tradition  with  continuity  of  blood;  it  is  easy  in  a  single 
family  to  remember  the  origins  of  the  race  and  the  pur- 
poses of  its  organization;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  when  that 
race  is  constantly  being  renewed  and  augmented  from 
other  sources,  from  stocks  that  did  not  carry  or  originate 
the  same  principle?. 

So  from  generation  to  generation  strangers  have  had  to 
be  indoctrinated  with  the  principles  of  the  American 
family,  and  the  wonder  and  the  beauty  of  it  all  has  been 
that  the  infection  has  been  so  generously  easy.  For  the 
principles  of  liberty  are  united  with  the  principles  of  hope. 
Every  individual,  as  well  as  every  nation,  wishes  to 
realize  the  best  thing  that  is  in  him,  the  best  thing  that 
can  be  conceived  out  of  the  materials  of  which  his  spirit 
is  constructed.  It  has  happened  in  away  that  fascinates 
the  imagination  that  we  have  not  only  been  augmented 
by  additions  from  outside,  but  that  we  have  been  greatly 
stimulated  by  those  additions.  Living  in  the  easy  pros- 
perity of  a  free  people,  knowing  that  the  sun  had  always 
been  free  to  shine  upon  us  and  prosper  our  undertakings, 
we  did  not  realize  how  hard  the  task  of  liberty  is  and  how 


22  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

rare  the  privilege  of  liberty  is;  but  men  were  drawn  out 
of  every  climate  and  out  of  every  race  because  of  an  irre- 
sistible attraction  of  their  spirits  to  the  American  ideal. 
They  thought  of  America  as  lifting,  like  that  great  statue 
in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  a  torch  to  light  the  pathway  of 
men  to  the  things  that  they  desire,  and  men  of  all  sorts 
and  conditions  struggled  toward  that  light  and  came  to 
our  shores  with  an  eager  desire  to  realize  it,  and  a  hunger 
for  it  such  as  some  of  us  no  longer  felt,  for  we  were  as  if 
satiated  and  satisfied  and  were  indulging  ourselves 
after  a  fashion  that  did  not  belong  to  the  ascetic  devotion 
of  the  early  devotees  of  those  great  principles.  Strangers 
came  to  remind  us  of  what  we  had  promised  ourselves 
and  through  ourselves  had  promised  mankind.  All  men 
came  to  us  and  said,  "Where  is  the  bread  of  life  with  which 
you  promised  to  feed  us,  and  have  you  partaken  of  it 
yourselves?"  For  my  part,  I  believe  that  the  constant 
renewal  of  this  people  out  of  foreign  stocks  has  been  a 
constant  source  of  reminder  to  this  people  of  what  the 
inducement  was  that  was  offered  to  men  who  would  come 
and  be  of  our  number. 

Now  we  have  come  to  a  time  of  special  stress  and  test. 
There  never  was  a  time  when  we  needed  more  clearly  to 
conserve  the  principles  of  our  own  patriotism  than  this 
present  time.  Every  political  action,  every  social  action, 
should  have  for  its  object  in  America  at  this  time  to  chal- 
lenge the  spirit  of  America;  to  ask  that  every  man  and 
woman  who  thinks  first  of  America  should  rally  to  the 
standards  of  our  life. 

America  has  a  great  cause  which  is  not  confined  to 
the  American  continent.  It  is  the  cause  of  humanity 
itself.    I  do  not  mean  in  anything  that  I  say  even  to  imply 


AMERICA   FIRST  23 

a  judgment  upon  any  nation  or  upon  any  policy,  for  my 
object  here  this  afternoon  is  not  to  sit  in  judgment  upon 
anybody  but  ourselves  and  to  challenge  you  to  assist  all 
of  us  who  are  trying  to  make  America  more  than  ever 
conscious  of  her  own  principles  and  her  own  duty.  I  look 
forward  to  the  necessity  in  every  political  agitation  in  the 
years  which  are  immediately  at  hand  of  calling  upon  every 
man  to  declare  himself,  where  he  stands.  Is  it  America 
first  or  is  it  not? 

We  ought  to  be  very  careful  about  some  of  the  impres- 
sions that  we  are  forming  just  now.  There  is  too  general 
an  impression,  I  fear,  that  very  large  numbers  of  our 
fellow-citizens  bom  in  other  lands  have  not  entertained 
with  sufficient  intensity  and  affection  the  American  ideal. 
But^the  number  of  such  is,  I  am  sure,  not  large.  Those 
who  would  seek  to  represent  them  are  very  vocal,  but 
they  are  not  very  influential.  Some  of  the  best  stuff  of 
America  has  come  out  of  foreign  lands,  and  some  of  the 
best  stuff  in  America  is  in  the  men  who  are  naturaHzed 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  I  would  not  be  afraid  upon 
the  test  of  "America  first"  to  take  a  census  of  all  the 
foreign-bom  citizens  of  the  United  States,  for  I  know 
that  the  vast  majority  of  them  came  here  because  they 
beheved  in  America;  and  their  belief  in  America  has 
made  them  better  citizens.  They  can  say  that  they  have 
bought  this  privilege  with  a  great  price.  They  have  left 
their  homes,  they  have  left  their  kindred,  they  have 
broken  all  the  nearest  and  dearest  ties  of  human  life  in 
order  to  come  to  a  new  land,  take  a  new  rootage,  begin 
a  new  life,  and  so  by  self-sacrifice  express  their  confidence 
in  a  new  principle;  whereas,  it  cost  us  none  of  these  things. 
We  were  bom  into  this  privilege;  we  were  rocked  and 


24  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

cradled  in  it;  we  did  nothing  to  create  it;  and  it  is,  there- 
fore, the  greater  duty  on  our  part  to  do  a  great  deal  to 
enhance  it  and  preserve  it.  I  am  not  deceived  as  to  the 
balance  of  opinion  among  the  foreign-bom  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  but  I  am  in  a  hurry  for  an  opportunity 
to  have  a  Hne-up  and  let  the  men  who  are  thinking  first 
of  other  countries  stand  on  one  side  and  all  those  that 
are  for  America  first,  last,  and  all  the  time  stand  on  the 
other  side. 

Now,  you  can  do  a  great  deal  in  this  direction.  When 
I  was  a  college  officer  I  used  to  be  very  much  opposed  to 
hazing ;  not  because  hazing  is  not  wholesome,  but  because 
sophomores  are  poor  judges.  I  remember  a  very  dear 
friend  of  mine,  a  professor  of  ethics  on  the  other  side  of 
the  water,  was  asked  if  he  thought  it  was  ever  justifiable 
to  tell  a  lie.  He  said  Yes,  he  thought  it  was  sometimes 
justifiable  to  lie;  "but,"  he  said,  "it  is  so  difficult  to  judge 
of  the  justification  that  I  usually  tell  the  truth."  I  think 
that  ought  to  be  the  motto  of  the  sophomore.  There  are 
freshmen  who  need  to  be  hazed,  but  the  need  is  to  be 
judged  by  such  nice  tests  that  a  sophomore  is  hardly  old 
enough  to  determine  them.  But  the  world  can  determine 
them.  We  are  not  freshmen  at  college,  but  we  are  con- 
stantly hazed.  I  would  a  great  deal  rather  be  obHged  to 
draw  pepper  up  my  nose  than  to  observe  the  hostile  glances 
of  my  neighbors.  I  would  a  great  deal  rather  be  beaten 
than  ostracized.  I  would  a  great  deal  rather  endure  any 
sort  of  physical  hardship  if  I  might  have  the  affection  of 
my  fellow-men.  We  constantly  discipline  our  fellow- 
citizens  by  having  an  opinion  about  them.  That  is  the 
sort  of  discipline  we  ought  now  to  administer  to  everybody 
who  is  not  to  the  very  core  of  his  heart  an  American. 


AMERICA   FIRST  25 

Just  have  an  opinion  about  him  and  let  him  experience 
the  atmospheric  effects  of  that  opinion! 

It  has  seemed  to  me  that  my  privilege  this  afternoon 
was  not  merely  a  privilege  of  courtesy,  but  the  real  privi- 
lege of  reminding  you — for  I  am  sure  I  am  doing  nothing 
more — of  the  great  principles  which  we  stand  associated 
to  promote.  I  for  my  part  rejoice  that  we  belong  to  a 
country  in  which  the  whole  business  of  government  is  so 
difficult.  We  do  not  take  orders  from  anybody;  it  is  a 
universal  communication  of  conviction,  the  most  subtle, 
dehcate,  and  difficult  of  processes.  There  is  not  a  single 
individual's  opinion  that  is  not  of  some  consequence  in 
making  up  the  grand  total,  and  to  be  in  this  great  coop- 
erative effort  is  the  most  stimulating  thing  in  the  world. 
A  man  standing  alone  may  well  doubt  his  own  judg- 
ment. He  may  mistrust  his  own  intellectual  processes;  he 
may  even  wonder  if  his  own  heart  leads  him  right  in  mat- 
ters of  public  conduct;  but  if  he  finds  his  heart  part  of 
the  great  throb  of  national  life,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
about  it.  If  that  is  his  circumstance,  then  he  may  know 
that  he  is  part  of  one  of  the  great  forces  of  the  world. 

I  would  not  feel  any  exhilaration  in  belonging  to  America 
if  I  did  not  feel  that  she  was  something  more  than  a  rich 
and  powerful  nation.  I  should  not  feel  proud  to  be  in 
some  respects  and  for  a  little  while  her  spokesman  if  I 
did  not  believe  that  there  was  something  else  than  physical 
force  behind  her.  I  believe  that  the  glory  of  America 
is  that  she  is  a  great  spiritual  conception  and  that  in  the 
spirit  of  her  institutions  dwells  not  only  her  distinction 
but  her  power.  The  one  thing  that  the  world  cannot 
permanently  resist  is  the  moral  force  of  great  and  trium- 
phant convictions. 


26  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

THE   NEW  BANNER 

KATRINA  TRASK 

O  fellow-citizens  of  storm-tossed  Lands, 

War  weary !     Sound  the  bugle-note !     Arise ! 

New  steadfast  standards  wait  your  eager  hands, 

The  Star  of  Promise  orbs  to  meet  your  eyes. 

Great  Kings  must  pass,  that  mankind  may  be  free, 
Beneath  the  banner  of  Democracy! 

The  Mighty  Ruler  of  this  mortal  life 

Has  wisdom,  not  by  mortals  understood: 

The  seeds  of  blood,  the  deeds  of  wanton  strife 

Shall  some  day  harvest  unexpected  good. 

Great  Kings  shall  pass  and  every  nation  be 
Ruled  by  the  people — for  the  people,  free. 
When  the  mad  anguish  of  this  stricken  world  — 

Where  valiant  heroes  daily  fight  and  fall  — 
Has  passed  and  Freedom's  banners  are  unfurled. 
Then  shall  we  know  the  reason  for  it  all ! 

Then  every  waiting,  heart-sick  land  shall  see 
The  ultimate  design  of  Destiny ! 

Brave  men  and  women,  laboring  in  toil  — 

Who,  faithful,  fight  with  wilHng  sword  or  pen, 
Who  work  to  break  the  rock  or  till  the  soil  — 
Shall  wear  the  high  insignia  of  men. 

All  Kings  must  pass,  that  every  man  may  be 
A  monarch  in  his  manhood,  strong  and  free! 
Beyond  the  present",  unimagined  woe, 

A  glorious  Day  is  breaking  o'er  the  earth: 
As  Spring  flowers  blossom,  after  ice-bound  snow. 
The  God  of  Gods  shall  bring  new  things  to  birth. 
It  is  the  dawn !     Great  forces  are  set  free ! 
All  Hail  the  Day!     World-wide  Democracy! 


A   LITANY    IN  THE    DESERT  27 

A   LITANY   IN   THE   DESERT' 

ALICE  CORBIN  HENDERSON 
I 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  mountains 
there  is  a  great  welter  of  steel  and  flame.  I  have  read 
that  it  is  so.     I  know  nothing  of  it  here. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  water  there  is  ten-ible  carnage. 
I  have  read  that  it  is  so.     I  know  nothing  of  it  here. 

I  do  not  know  why  men  fight  and  die.  I  do  not  know 
why  men  sweat  and  slave.     I  know  nothing  of  it  here. 

II 

Out  of  the  peace  of  your  great  valleys,  America,  out 
of  the  depth  and  silence  of  your  deep  canyons, 

Out  of  the  wide  stretch  of  yellow  corn-fields,  out  of  the 
stealthy  sweep  of  your  rich  prairies. 

Out  of  the  high  mountain  peaks,  out  of  the  intense 
purity  of  your  snows. 

Invigorate  us,  O  America. 

Out  of  the  deep  peace  of  your  breast,  out  of  the  sure 
strength  of  your  loins. 

Recreate  us,  0  America. 

Not  from  the  smoke  and  the  fever  and  fret,  not  from 
the  welter  of  furnaces,  from  the  fierce  melting-pots  of 
cities ; 

But  from  the  quiet  fields,  from  the  little  places,  from 
the  dark  lamp-lit  nights  —  from  the  plains,  from  the 
cabins,  from  the  little  house  in  the  mountains, 

Breathe  strength  upon  us : 

And  give  us  the  young  men  who  will  make  us  great. 


VICTORY  BEFORE   PEACE 

ALBERT  SHAW 

The  United  States  has  joined  a  powerful  league  of 
nations  whose  object  is  to  enforce  peace.  It  is  reasonable 
to  hope  that  the  end  of  the  war  is  nearer  in  consequence. 
Whether  or  not  the  existing  war  is  to  be  shortened  by  our 
assumption  of  the  status  of  belligerency,  it  is  fairly  certain 
that  our  own  future  peace  as  well  as  that  of  all  other 
leading  nations,  for  a  hundred  years  to  come,  is  much 
less  likely  to  be  disturbed.  We  have  gone  into  this  war 
to  make  the  rule  of  reason  respected,  and  to  make  the 
peace  dream  of  ages  a  working  reality  of  the  early  future. 

If  a  peace  could  have  been  made  last  winter  it  was  con- 
ceivable that  the  main  ends  of  justice  might  have  been 
met  and  durable  solutions  adopted.  But  the  continuance 
and  development  of  the  war  has  made  it  necessary  that 
victory  should  precede  peace.  The  cause  of  the  Anglo- 
French  group  of  allies  has  become  clarified  in  the  move- 
ment of  events,  until  now  that  cause  is  identical  with  the 
best  interests  of  mankind.  America  had  hoped  to  join 
a  future  league  to  enforce  peace  after  war  was  ended. 
But  events  have  shown  that  we  could  expect  no  such 
League  of  the  Future,  unless  we  were  prepared  to  play  a 
larger  part  in  the  League  of  the  Present. 

When  great  crises  arise  and  decisions  of  historic  moment 
are  made,  it  is  usually  true  that  there  has  been  a  long 
series  of  historic  events  and  situations  more  or  less  obscure 
leading  inevitably  to  the  startling  climax.  No  nation 
in  Europe  desired  in  19 14  to  become  involved  in  war. 
Yet  the  fuel  had  been  piling  up  for  the  great  conflagration 

28 


Copyright  by  UDderwood  &  Underwood 

Albert  Shaw 


VICTORY   BEFORE   PEACE  29 

for  many  years;  and  it  was  written  in  the  book  of  fate 
that  a  torch  should  be  appHed  in  the  Balkans  that  would 
set  the  whole  world  aflame. 

We  in  the  United  States,  looking  on  at  these  develop- 
ments, were  conscious  of  great  fears  and  also  of  great 
hopes.  There  was  room  in  the  world  for  the  industry 
and  commerce  of  Germany,  as  well  as  for  the  efforts  of 
England,  France,  and  Japan.  There  was  valuable  and 
beneficent  progress  visible  in  all  the  leading  countries. 
There  was  growing  friendship  across  boundary  lines  among 
men  of  business,  men  of  science,  representatives  of  the 
labor  movements,  and  exponents  of  arts  and  letters.  It 
was  ridiculous  to  say  that  the  pursuits  of  peace  had  made 
the  nations  effeminate,  or  lacking  in  the  so-called  martial 
virtues.  On  the  contrary,  the  disciplines  of  modern 
life,  along  with  the  applications  of  science,  had  given  us  a 
larger  proportion  of  people  sound  in  mind  and  body  than 
at  any  other  time  in  human  history.  Yet  with  all  the 
fine  progress  of  nations,  the  secret  diplomacy  of  their 
dynasties  and  their  foreign  offices  and  the  competitive 
extension  of  their  political  empires  were  in  constant 
danger  of  bringing  about  either  a  succession  of  wars  or 
one  stupendous  conflict.  Over  against  the  fears  of  war 
due  to  false  policies,  were  the  hopes  based  upon  the  grow- 
ing common  sense  of  mankind,  upon  steps  taken  in  the 
Hague  Conferences,  upon  arbitration  treaties,  and  espe- 
cially upon  the  constant  growth  of  democratic  influence 
and  labor  solidarity. 

When  the  great  war  broke  out,  in  19 14,  we  declared  that 
it  was  fundamentally  due  to  the  fact  that  peoples  were 
the  victims  of  governments.  We  took  the  ground  that 
if  Germany  had  been  as  progressive  in  the  creation  of  a 


30  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

truly  representative  government  as  she  had  been  progres- 
sive in  many  other  aspects  of  her  national  life  and  char- 
acter, the  war  could  not  have  occurred. 

It  is  very  annoying  to  the  government-controlled  press 
of  Germany  that  President  Wilson  should  have  had  the 
audacity  in  his  address  to  Congress  to  make  a  sharp  dis- 
tinction between  the  German  people  and  the  Prussian 
autocracy  that  now  constitutes  the  government  of  the 
Empire.  Yet  this  distinction  is  not  merely  invidious  or 
theoretical.  According  to  President  Wilson,  one  of  our 
objects  in  taking  part  in  the  war  against  the  German 
Government  is  to  secure  the  emancipation  and  true 
welfare  of  the  German  people.  His  address  to  Congress 
breathes  no  spirit  of  hatred.  Having  failed  in  his  efforts 
a  few  months  earlier  to  persuade  the  nations  of  Europe 
to  negotiate  a  "peace  without  victory,"  it  became  evident 
to  him  that  the  war  must  go  on  until  one  side  or  the 
other  had  gained  a  marked  degree  of  military  success. 

Thus  the  moral  effect  of  having  America  committed 
to  the  common  cause  could  hardly  be  overestimated. 

— From  The  Review  of  Reviews,  May,  191 7 


AMERICANS,   HAIL! 

SIR  WILLIAM  WATSON 

Here,  too,  is  greatness;  here  are  heads  grown  gray 

In  council,  not  yet  dreaming  of  repose; 

Here  are  the  athletes  of  debate,  and  here 

The  brains  that  are  the  lamps  without  whose  light 

Armies  would  grope  and  stumble,  and  noblest  prowess 

With  a  waste  splendor  dazzle  a  fruitless  field. 


AMERICANS,  HAIL!  31 

Here,  also,  his  hot  thirst  for  toil  unslaked,         ^ 
The  sinews  of  his  lithe  mind  unrelaxed, 
Is  he,  our  Empire's  leader:  he  who  set 
The  wheels  of  the  machinery  of  victory 
Whirring  and  spinning  throughout  all  this  isle, 
Till  Britain  hummed  as  one  great  mill  of  war; 
A  man,  no  wraith  or  shadow;  a  live  man, 
Loathed  by  the  specters  and  the  counterfeits; 
A  man  as  human  as  your  Lincoln  was. 
Not  muffled  up  in  formula  and  phrase. 
With  palisaded  spirit,  but  giving  us 
Access  and  entrance  to  his  hopes  and  fears, 
And  in  companionship  of  glorious  hazard 
Bearing  us  with  him,  while  he  treads  a  road 
Built  like  a  causeway  across  flaming  Hell ; 
Himself  a  flame  of  ardor  and  resolve, 
Beset  by  all  the  tempests,  but  unquenched, 
Being  used  to  blasts,  and  native  to  the  storm, 
And  thriving  on  the  thunder  from  his  prime. 

Ours  were  the  shame,  if  having  such  a  leader 
We  proved  unworthy  at  last  to  be  so  led, 
And  lowered  the  flag  of  an  unshaken  will, 
And  stooped  our  soul  to  a  stature  and  a  posture 
Like  theirs  who  preach  a  base  truck  with  the  foe. 
***** 
With  hope  that  can  not  wholly  vanquish  fear. 
The  veiled,  unknown,  tremendous  morrow;  we 
With  our  own  chiefs  of  camp  and  council ;  you 
With  yours;  and  at  your  head  the  famed,  the  trusted, 
The  hated  and  revered  one :  he  whose  speech 
Is  hazeless  sister  unto  cloudless  thought : 


32  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Who,  flooding  with  a  bland  light  all  his  theme, 

Can,  when  the  hour  craves  gallant  archery, 

Unquiver  none  the  less  a  deadly  lightning : 

A  mind  'twixt  wariness  and  boldness  poised, 

Wide-watching  and  far-scouting,  subtle  and  sage ; 

Cool  as  a  pine  at  its  firm  heart  is  cool, 

Tho  secretly  a  colleague  of  the  sun, 

And  living  by  his  fire :  a  soul  erect 

E'en  as  the  pine  itself  is;  and  altho 

Towering  amid  the  forest  of  your  life 

O'er  all  beside,  still  of  that  forest,  still 

One  only  of  a  hundred  million  trees 

Knowing  no  difference  in  their  right  to  Summer. 

Ah,  once,  in  the  dead  yesterday  that  seems 
Entombed  so  deep,  haply  we  did  him  wrong! 
We  knew  not  all ;  now,  now  we  understand. 
We  are  men,  and  see  the  man:  large,  patient,  calm; 
Freed  from  the  trammels  and  the  coils  that  bound 
And  half  obscured  him:  standing  there  to-day. 
Etched  with  no  vagueness  against  no  blurred  sky : 
Yonder  concerting  and  controlling  all 
The  instruments  in  that  vast  orchestra. 
Your  nation,  whence  there  rises  goldenly 
Tho  sternly,  with  far  surge  and  tidal  swell. 
Not  without  sad  and  wailful  underflow, 
But  mighty  in  heave  and  sound,  all  dissonance  hushed, 
That  new  Heroic  Symphony  of  war; 
Heard  throughout  Earth  with  a  grave  thankfulness 
By  such  as  love  great  music;  and  perhaps 
E'en  on  an  ear  divine  not  wholly  lost, 
Not  utterly  unacceptable  to  Heaven. 


COMRADES  33 

COMRADES 

RICHARD   HOVEY 

Comrades,  gird  your  swords  to-night, 

For  the  battle  is  with  dawn ! 

Oh,  the  clash  of  shields  together, 

With  the  triumph  coming  on ! 

Greet  the  foe, 

And  lay  him  low. 

When  strong  men  fight  together ! 

Comrades,  watch  the  tides  to-night, 

For  the  sailing  is  with  dawn ! 

Oh,  to  face  the  spray  together, 

With  the  tempest  coming  on ! 

Greet  the  sea 

With  a  shout  of  glee. 

When  strong  men  roam  together! 

Comrades,  give  a  cheer  to-night, 

For  the  dying  is  with  dawn ! 

Oh,  to  meet  the  stars  together. 

With  the  silence  coming  on ! 

Greet  the  end 

As  a  friend  a  friend. 

When  strong  men  die  together! 

— From  Songs  from  Vagdbondia 


WHY   WE   MUST  WIN 

FRANK   O.    LOWDEN 

This  is  not  a  mere  war  for  territory.  If  it  were,  some 
point  of  common  agreement  might  be  reached.  It  is  not 
a  war  sought  as  a  balm  to  a  Nation's  wounded  pride. 
If  it  were,  that  pride  would  have  been  swallowed  up  long 
ago  in  the  horrors  of  the  war.  It  is  a  war  of  ideas.  And 
it  is  a  war  of  two  such  big  ideas  that  the  world  itself  is 
not  big  enough  to  hold  them  both.  One  idea  recognizes 
that,  as  Government  is  composed  of  the  people,  so  Govern- 
ment is  subject  to  the  same  moral  tests,  the  same  ethical 
obligations  as  the  people  who  compose  it.  The  idea  for 
which  the  Central  Empires  contend  is  that  the  State  is 
above  all  morality,  all  obligation  to  humanity,  and  that 
its  only  consideration  is,  what  is  best  for  itself. 

At  last  we  know  the  issue  which  we  have  to  meet.  The 
Prussian  autocracy,  a  half  century  ago,  declared  that  the 
law  of  force  was  the  only  law  governing  nations.  The 
world  heard,  but  did  not  heed  the  sinister  threat.  Now 
we  know  that  this  was  no  mere  idle,  academic  utterance 
of  the  class-room.  The  idea,  inspired  by  the  history  of 
the  Hohenzollems  and  given  utterance  by  the  State- 
controlled  universities  of  the  Empire,  has  flourished  until 
it  holds  securely  within  its  grip  a  great  and  powerful 
nation.  Moved  by  this  idea  Germany  has,  with  infinite 
patience,  and  ingenuity,  and  genius,  built  the  greatest 
fighting  machine  the  world  has  ever  known. 

That  idea  has  grown  until  it  has  almost  the  force  of  a 
religious  cult.  It  is  spreading  like  a  black  cloud  over  the 
earth,  and  nothing  will  drive  away  that  cloud  but  the 

34 


Frank  O.  Lowden 


WHY  WE   MUST   WIN  35 

absolute  triumph  of  our  armies  in  this  war.  I  beheve 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  that  the  German  people  will 
gain  more  from  their  own  decisive  defeat  than  we  will  gain 
ourselves.  We  are  at  war,  not  with  any  people,  but 
with  this  idea  which,  if  we  do  not  fight  it  to  the  death,  will 
dominate  and  rule  and  ruin  the  earth.  Why  should  not 
they  invade  Belgium  ?  It  was  to  their  military  advantage, 
and  in  their  new  philosophy,  advantage  to  the  State  is 
all  that  counts.  Why  isn't  a  treaty  a  scrap  of  paper, 
if  their  philosophy  is  sound?  Why  should  not  they  sink 
unarmed  merchant  ships  and  deliberately  drown  men  and 
women  and  children,  if  that  would  help  them  to  impose 
their  new  Kultur  upon  the  world?  Why  should  we  be 
surprised  at  their  dropping  bombs  upon  hospitals  where 
wounded  and  dying  men  lie?  These  men  had  dared  to 
fight  for  that  other  idea,  the  outworn  idea  that  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  the  honor  of  nations.  The  German  war 
cult  has  been  consistent  —  diabolically  consistent  — 
throughout.  It  can  answer  every  charge  that  has  been 
made  or  may  be  made  against  it  by  an  appeal  to  its 
basic  idea  that  the  nation  is  above  the  moral  law  —  that 
national  honor  is  but  a  phrase  invented  by  the  weaker 
nations  to  escape  the  power  of  the  sword.  Force,  brute 
force,  material  force,  force  that  can  be  seen  and  felt,  and 
force  alone,  if  they  are  right,  should  rule  the  world. 
Literature,  music,  the  arts,  and  all  the  things  of  the 
spirit  that  make  life  sweet  and  beautiful  are  of  use  only 
if  they  prepare  the  people  for  war,  and  then,  when  war 
comes,  serve  to  feed  its  flames. 

The  idea  that  moral  considerations,  considerations  of 
justice,  of  humanity,  of  honor,  bind  the  individuals  of  a 
State  but  not  the  State  itself,  is  so  monstrous  that  it 


36  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

threatens  the  civiHzation  of  the  world.  Yea,  it  will 
destroy  even  the  civilization  of  the  State  itself,  which 
holds  to  this  idea.  It  corrupts  its  own  citizens.  The 
people  of  no  country  can  have  high  ideals  if  their  nation 
openly  professes  low  ones.  The  conduct  of  Count  von 
Bemstorfif,  the  late  German  ambassador  to  this  country, 
is  a  case  in  point.  He  followed  faithfully  the  German 
idea.  He  was  the  honored  guest  of  our  Nation;  the 
hospitality  of  our  people  and  the  freedom  of  our  land  were 
his.  Professing  daily  his  friendship  for  America,  and 
though  we  were  at  peace  with  his  country,  he  plotted 
destruction  of  railroads  and  munition  plants,  he  fomented 
internal  disorder,  he  filled  our  land  with  spies  —  but  he 
was  true  to  the  principles  of  his  master.  And  no  man 
can  serve  a  state  which  denies  the  existence  of  national 
honor,  and  not  himself  lose  his  own  honor.  Count  von 
Bernstorff  doubtless  despised  himself  for  the  life  of  lies 
he  lived  amongst  us.  But  he  was  loyal  to  the  teachings 
of  his  country.  When  will  men  learn  that  there  cannot 
be  one  set  of  ethics  for  men  and  another  for  nations? 
The  idea  that  a  nation  can  do  no  wrong,  and  that  the 
moral  considerations  which  bind  individuals  do  not  con- 
trol in  the  activities  of  the  State,  must  be  stamped  out 
for  evermore  if  peace  in  any  permanent  form  is  ever  to 
return  to  the  world.  Whatever  is  wrong  when  done  by 
the  individuals  composing  a  nation,  is  equally  wrong 
when  done  by  the  nation  itself.  The  idea  that  it  is  a 
crime  for  one  man  to  steal  his  neighbor's  horse,  but  an 
heroic  thing  when  seventy-five  million,  in  the  name  of 
the  State,  steal  a  neighboring  province,  must  be  done  to 
death.  You  cannot  multiply  vice  by  a  number  large 
enough  to  make  vice  a  virtue. 


WHY  WE   MUST   WIN  37 

Under  the  spell  of  this  evil  ideal  they  have  forgotten 
all  the  splendid  literature  of  their  past;  they  have  neg- 
lected the  noble  lines  of  Lessing,  Goethe  and  Schiller, 
and  have  decorated  that  poet  who  has  written  "The 
Hymn  of  Hate."  This  ideal  has  seized  their  Science, 
and  their  scientists  tell  you  to-day  that  they  are  but 
acting  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  —  that  it  is  best  for  the  world  that  weak  nations 
and  weak  peoples  be  exterminated.  That  is  the  idea  with 
which  we  are  at  war. 

Oh,  my  friends,  this  idea  which  they  let  loose  half  a 
century  ago,  if  it  shall  go  on  another  half  century  will 
take  the  world  back  to  the  law  of  the  jungle,  and  that 
cruel  law  will  hold  the  world  in  its  grip. 

It  is  so  hard  to  realize  that  such  a  danger  can  exist  at 
this  period  of  the  world.  Upon  the  whole  we  have  made 
progress  during  the  century  and  a  half  since  we,  as  a 
nation,  came  into  existence,  and  we  assume  that  it  must 
continue  indefinitely;  but  that  is  not  the  history  of  the 
world.  You  will  recall  that  away  back,  even  before  the 
time  of  the  Christian  Era,  there  was  a  splendid  civilization 
in  Greece,  and  that  the  Roman  Republic  had  started  upon 
its  career  of  glory;  but  remember  that  all  this  civilization 
went  out  into  the  blackness  of  night  and  for  centuries, 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  a  sable  pall  covered  the  globe.  Civili- 
zation has  been  beaten  before,  and  it  has  taken  centuries 
for  it  to  emerge,  and  so  again,  with  this  threat,  like  a 
black  cloud  over  every  land,  there  never  was  so  heavy 
a  burden  placed  upon  our  patriotism  as  now  —  never  in 
all  our  past. 

This  is  not  like  any  other  war  in  which  we  were  ever 
engaged.     We  had  our  great  Civil  War,  the  greatest  war 


S1192 


38  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

in  the  history  of  the  world  down  to  that  time.  But  the 
present  war  means  infinitely  more  to  everyone  of  us  than 
did  the  Civil  War,  and  I  will  tell  you  why.  If  we,  of  the 
North,  had  lost  in  the  Civil  War,  we  still  would  have  had 
some  kind  of  a  country.  It  would  have  been  fragmentary 
and  inglorious,  perhaps,  but  we  still  would  have  had  a 
home.  There  would  have  been  some  soil,  above  which 
our  flag  waved,  and  upon  which  we  could  dwell.  But 
if  this  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  is  lost,  we  will  not  even 
have  the  remnant  of  a  country  left,  because  the  principle 
of  absolutism  will  rest  upon  all  the  world.  We  not  only 
will  have  no  place  which  we  can  call  our  home,  but  there 
won't  be  a  nook  or  a  cranny  in  all  the  universe,  where  a 
lover  of  liberty  can  find  refuge;  because  when  this  war  is 
over,  the  world,  all  the  world,  will  be  altogether  free, 
or  altogether  slave. 

I  do  not  know  which  is  the  more  interested  in  this  war, 
capital  or  labor,  but  I  do  know  that  nothing  matters  to 
either  if  we  do  not  win  the  war.  And  capital  cannot 
alone  win  the  war,  and  labor  cannot  alone  win  the  war. 
Therefore,  it  is  time,  as  it  never  was  before,  for  capital 
and  labor  to  get  together,  to  gather  about  the  same 
board,  to  sit  in  the  same  council,  and  to  resolve  to  merge 
all  differences  until  their  common  danger  shall  be  repelled. 

America  has  been  called  the  melting-pot  of  the  nations. 
There  are  some  evidences  of  late  that  the  pot  has  grown 
cool  and  that  it  has  failed  in  its  work.  Maybe  the  flames 
of  this  world-wide  war  were  needed  to  make  it  red  hot 
again.  At  any  rate,  we  may  hope  that  when  the  war  is 
over  there  will  come  from  that  pot,  only  gold  and  dross, 
nd  that  our  citizenship,  whether  native  or  foreign  born 
will  stand  forth  in  but  two  classes, —  genuine,  war-tried 
Americans  on  the  one  hand,  and  dross  on  the  other. 


I    AM    AN    AMERICAN  39 


\ 


I   AM  AN   AMERICAN 

ELIAS    LIEBERMAN 

I  am  an  American. 

My  father  belongs  to  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution; 

My  mother,  to  the  Colonial  Dames. 

One  of  my  ancestors  pitched  tea  overboard  in  Boston 

Harbor ; 
Another  stood  his  ground  with  Warren; 
Another  hungered  with  Washington  at  Valley  Forge. 
My  forefathers  were  America  in  the  making : 
They  spoke  in  her  council  halls; 
They  died  on  her  battle-fields ; 
They  commanded  her  ships; 
They  cleared  her  forests. 
Dawns  reddened  and  paled. 

Stanch  hearts  of  mine  beat  fast  at  each  new  star 
In  the  nation's  flag. 

Keen  eyes  of  mine  foresaw  her  greater  glory : 
The  sweep  of  her  seas, 
The  plenty  of  her  plains. 
The  man-hives  in  her  billion- wired  cities. 
Every  drop  of  blood  in  me  holds  a  heritage  of  patriotism. 
I  am  proud  of  my  past. 
I  am  an  American. 

I  am  an  American. 

My  father  was  an  atom  of  dust, 

My  mother  a  straw  in  the  wind, 

To  his  serene  majesty. 

One  of  my  ancestors  died  in  the  mines  of  Siberia; 

Another  was  crippled  for  life  by  twenty  blows  of  the  knut; 


40  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Another    was    killed    defending    his    home    during    the 

massacres. 
The  history  of  my  ancestors  is  a  trail  of  blood 
To  the  palace-gate  of  the  Great  White  Czar. 
But  then  the  dream  came  — 
The  dream  of  America. 
In  the  hght  of  the  Liberty  torch 
The  atom  of  dust  became  a  man 
And  the  straw  in  the  wind  became  a  woman 
For  the  first  time. 
"See,"  said  my  father,  pointing  to  the  flag  that  fluttered 

near, 
"That  flag  of  stars  and  stripes  is  yours; 
It  is  the  emblem  of  the  promised  land. 
It  means,  my  son,  the  hope  of  humanity. 
Live  for  it  —  die  for  it!" 

Under  the  open  sky  of  my  new  country  I  swore  to  do  so; 
And  every  drop  of  blood  in  me  will  keep  that  vow. 
I  am  proud  of  my  future. 
I  am  an  American. 


THE   SEARCHLIGHTS 

ALFRED    NOYES 

Shadow  by  shadow,  stripped  for  fight, 
The  lean  black  cruisers  search  the  sea. 

Night-long  their  level  shafts  of  light 
Revolve,  and  find  no  enemy. 

Only  they  know  each  leaping  wave 

May  hide  the  lightning,  and  their  grave. 

And  in  the  land  they  guard  so  well 
Is  there  no  silent  watch  to  keep? 


THE   SEARCHLIGHTS  41 

An  age  is  dying,  and  the  bell 

Rings  midnight  on  a  vaster  deep. 
But  over  all  its  waves,  once  more. 
The  searchlights  move,  from  shore  to  shore. 

And  captains  that  we  thought  were  dead, 
And  dreamers  that  we  thought  were  dumb, 

And  voices  that  we  thought  were  fled. 
Arise,  and  call  us,  and  we  come; 

And  "Search  in  thine  own  soul,"  they  cry; 

"For  there,  too,  lurks  thine  enemy." 

Search  for  the  foe  in  thine  own  soul, 

The  sloth,  the  intellectual  pride. 
The  trivial  jest  that  veils  the  goal 

For  which  our  fathers  lived  and  died: 
The  lawless  dreams,  the  cynic  Art, 
That  rend  thy  nobler  self  apart. 

Not  far,  not  far  into  the  night 

These  level  swords  of  light  can  pierce; 

Yet  for  her  faith  does  England  fight. 
Her  faith  in  this  our  universe, 

Believing  Truth  and  Justice  draw 

From  founts  of  everlasting  law; 

Therefore  a  Power  above  the  State, 

The  unconquerable  Power  returns. 
The  fire,  the  fire  that  made  her  great 

Once  more  upon  her  altar  burns. 
Once  more,  redeemed  and  healed  and  whole. 
She  moves  to  the  Eternal  Goal. 

This  poem  was  called  forth  by  General  von  Bernharde's  statement 
that  "Political  morality  differs  from  individual  morality  because  there 
is  no  power  above  the  State." 


THE   UNITED   STATES   COMES   OF  AGE 

HAMILTON    HOLT 

The  United  States  has  come  of  age.  For  nearly  a 
century  and  a  half  it  has  been  growing  up.  It  passed 
safely  through  the  common  ailments  of  childhood.  It 
has  suffered  the  disconcerting  mysteries  of  adolescence. 
It  has  been  racked  by  "growing  pains."  An  almost  mor- 
tal illness,  safely  weathered,  left  it  stronger  than  before. 
It  has  put  on  bone  and  sinew  and  good  solid  flesh.  It 
has  grown  in  wisdom  and  stature. 

Now,  in  God's  good  time,  it  has  come  to  its  majority. 
It  has  stepped  out  to  take  its  place  among  its  fellows  on 
the  earth.     It  has  become  a  citizen  of  the  world. 

This  is  the  deep  and  stirring  significance  of  the  Presi- 
dent's address.  The  United  States  at  a  stroke  assumes 
the  role  of  a  Great  Power.  It  steps  out  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere  into  the  world.  It  accepts  its  full  share  of 
responsibility  for  the  world's  peace  and  good  order.  It 
declares  its  right  and  duty  and  purpose  to  fight  for  justice, 
not  only  in  the  New  World,  but  in  the  Old. 

All  this  was  implied  in  what  we  have  already  done. 
But  it  needed  such  a  detailed  and  unequivocal  statement 
to  drive  it  home.  Events  have  moved  rapidly  for  us  in 
the  past  year.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Europe  has  not 
realized  how  far  we  had  come.  It  is  no  wonder  that  we 
ourselves  were  hardly  conscious  where  we  had  arrived. 

We  are  pledged  to  fight  to  the  end  to  readjust  the  map 
of  Europe.  Our  terms  of  peace  include  a  free  Poland, 
a  return  of  Italia  Irredenta,  the  freedom  of  Tiu"key*s 
oppressed  peoples,  the  redress  of  the  crime  of  187 1  in 
Alsace-Lorraine,  autonomy  for  parts  of  Austria-Hungary. 

42 


Hamilton  Holt 


TO   AMERICA  ^  43 

A  strange  undertaking  for  the  American  people.  An 
astounding  breaking  with  the  past.  But  in  the  world 
we  have  lived  in  for  three  years  now  it  hardly  seems 
strange.  The  past  is  more  shadowy  than  it  has  ever 
been  before.     Our  eyes  are  on  the  future. 

The  future  beckons  the  American  nation  to  a  mighty 
responsibility.  The  nation  goes  forward  with  a  bound. 
— From  The  Independent,  January  19,  19 18. 

TO  AMERICA 

CHARLES  LANGBRIDGE  MORGAN 

When  the  fire  sinks  in  the  grate,  and  night  has  bent 
Close  wings  about  the  room,  and  winter  stands 
Hard-eyed  before  the  window,  when  the  hands 
Have  turned  the  book's  last  page  and  friends  are  sleeping, 
Thought,  as  it  were  an  old  stringed  instrument 
Drawn  to  remembered  music,  oft  does  set 
The  lips  moving  in  prayer,  for  us  fresh  keeping 
Knowledge  of  springtime  and  the  violet. 

And,  as  the  eyes  grow  dim  with  many  years. 
The  spirit  runs  more  swiftly  than  the  feet. 
Perceives  its  comfort,  knows  that  it  will  meet 
God  at  the  end  of  troubles,  that  the  dreary 
Last  reaches  of  old  age  lead  beyond  tears 
To  happy  youth  unending.     There  is  peace 
In  homeward  waters,  where  at  last  the  weary 
Shall  find  rebirth,  and  their  long  struggle  cease. 

So,  at  this  hour,  when  the  Old  World  lies  sick, 
Beyond  the  pain,  the  agony  of  breath 


44  THE   SPIRIT  OF   DEMOCRACY 

Hard  drawn,  beyond  the  menaces  of  death, 
O'er  graves  and  years  leans  out  the  eager  spirit. 
First  must  the  ancient  die ;  then  shall  be  quick 
New  fires  within  us.     Brother,  we  shall  make 
Incredible  discoveries  and  inherit 
The  fruits  of  hope,  and  love  shall  be  av/ake. 


THE   REVEILLE 

BRET    HARTE 

Hark !  I  hear  the  tramp  of  thousands. 

And  of  armed  men  the  hum ; 
Lo !  a  nation's  hosts  have  gathered 
Round  the  quick  alarming  drum,  — 
Saying,  "Come, 
Freemen,  'come ! 
Ere  your  heritage  be  wasted,"  said  the  quick  alarming 
drum. 

"Let  me  of  my  heart  take  counsel: 

War  is  not  of  life  the  sum. 
Who  shall  stay  and  reap  the  harvest 
When  the  autumn  days  shall  come?" 
But  the  drum 
Echoed,  "Come! 
Death  shall  reap  the  braver  harvest,"  said  the  solemn- 
sounding  drum. 

"But  when  won  the  coming  battle. 

What  of  profit  springs  therefrom? 
What  if  conquest,  subjugation. 

Even  greater  ills  become?" 


THE  REVEILLE  45 

But  the  drum 
Answered,  "Come! 
You  must  do  the  sum  to  prove  it,"  said  the  Yankee 
answering  drum. 

"What  if,  'mid  the  cannon's  thunder, 
Whistling  shot  and  bursting  bomb, 
When  my  brothers  fall  around  me. 

Should  my  heart  grow  cold  and  numb?" 
But  the  drum 
Answered,  "Come! 
Better  there  in  death  united,  than  in  life  a  recreant, — 
Come!" 

Thus  they  answered,  —  hoping,  fearing, 

Some  in  faith,  and  doubting  some, 
Till  a  trumpet-voice,  proclaiming, 
Said,  "My  chosen  people,  come!" 
Then  the  drum, 
Lo!  was  dumb, 
For  the  great  heart  of  the  nation,  throbbing,  answered, 
"Lord,  we  come!" 


OPPOSING   PRINCIPLES! 

TALCOTT  WILLIAMS 

We  may  as  well  understand  that  what  we  have  long 
looked  for,  which  through  earth's  mists  men  have  seen  as 
the  coming  of  the  dawn,  the  World  State,  is  already  here. 

There  is  not  a  man  in  business  who  has  not  found  him- 
self affected  by  what  has  taken  place.  There  is  not  a 
single  man  here  or  a  single  man  between  the  oceans,  who 
is  not  perfectly  well  aware  that  in  a  fashion  he  had  never 
dreamed,  in  a  manner  he  had  never  imagined,  and  which 
no  statesman  had  predicted  and  no  university  had  taught, 
there  has  suddenly  dawned  upon  us  all,  that  htimanity 
is  one,  that  all  states  are  part  of  it,  that  we  have  ceased  to 
look  upon  peoples,  but  instead  we  see  hiimanity  as  a  whole, 
and  that  every  great  act  affects  all  himianity  alike.  Face 
to  face  with  the  World  State,  we  need  to  be  aware  that 
what  we  are  watching  is  not  a  war  between  nations  any 
longer.  It  is  civil  war.  It  is  a  war  between  two  great 
opposing  principles  of  humanity;  one  looking  to  the 
organization  of  the  State  from  above,  and  the  other  look- 
ing to  its  organization  from  below.  One  believing  that 
authority  can  be  conferred  upon  a  few  to  exercise  for  the 
benefit  of  the  many,  and  the  other  believing  that  nobody 
is  wise  enough  to  exercise  authority  in  behalf  of  anyone 
else  except  by  their  choice  and  their  consent. 

It  will  be  seven  centuries  next  June  since  the  comer- 
stone  of  the  second  of  those  principles  was  laid  in  the 
Great   Charter  signed   by   the   barons   and   King  John. 


1  Delivered  before  the  Economic  Club  of  Boston,  February  8,  191 5. 

46 


Photo   by   Brown   Bros. 


Talcott  Williams 


BOSTON   HYMN  47 

The  great  question  is  whether  this  principle  shall  widen, 
until  it  is  recognized  by  all  the  world. 

We  cannot  avoid  it  if  we  would,  and  we  would  not  avoid 
it  if  we  could.  The  great  service  which  the  United  States 
can  do  towards  obtaining  peace  is  to  continue  to  stand 
upon  the  protest  which  it  uttered  against  the  violation  of 
the  neutralization  of  one  country  until  it  has  seciu-ed  the 
acceptance,  in  the  reorganization  of  the  World  State  which 
is  at  hand,  of  this  principle  by  the  entire  world. 

This  is  the  task  which  is  before  this  country;  this  is  the 
task  which  is  slowly  establishing  itself  before  you;  and 
there  is  not  a  single  man  here  who  does  not  believe  that 
upon  this  principle  and  upon  this  principle  alone  the 
United  States  should  endeavor  to  secure  peace.  Peace, 
when  it  comes,  must  begin  a  World  State  ruled  either  by 
militarism  or  by  Republics;  and  in  that  great  conflict, 
although  victory  may  be  delayed,  although  sacrifice  may 
be  required,  here,  in  this  city,  with  Concord  and  Bunker 
Hill  at  hand,  no  man  can  doubt  as  to  the  final  and 
ultimate  result. 

BOSTON   HYMN 

RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON 

The  word  of  the  Lord  by  night 
To  the  watching  Pilgrims  came. 
As  they  sat  by  the  seaside, 
And  filled  their  hearts  with  flame. 

God  said,  I  am  tired  of  kings, 
I  suffer  them  no  more; 
Up  to  my  ear  the  morning  brings 
The  outrage  of  the  poor. 


48  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Think  ye  I  made  this  ball 

A  field  of  havoc  and  war, 

Where  tyrants  great  and  tyrants  small 

Might  harry  the  weak  and  poor? 

My  angel — his  name  is  Freedom — 
Choose  him  to  be  your  king; 
He  shall  cut  pathways  east  and  west, 
And  fend  you  with  his  wing. 


DIES   IRAE— DIES   PACIS 

JOHN  OXENHAM 

"Only  through  Me!"   .    .    .   The  clean,  high  call  comes 

pealing, 
Above  the  thunders  of  the  battle-plain; — 
"Only  through  Me  can  Life's  red  wounds  find  healing; 
Only  through  Me  shall  earth  find  peace  again. 

Only  through  Me   .    .    .   Love's  Might,  all  might  tran- 
scending, 
Alone  can  drain  the  poison-fangs  of  Hate. 
Yoiirs  the  beginning!  —  Mine  a  nobler  ending, — 
Peace  upon  Earth,  and  Man  regenerate! 

Only  through  Me  can  come  the  great  awaking; 
Wrong  cannot  right  the  wrongs  that  Wrong  hath  done ; 
Only  through  Me,  all  other  gods  forsaking. 
Can  ye  attain  the  heights  that  must  be  won. 

Only  through  Me  shall  Victory  be  sounded; 

Only  through  Me  can  Right  wield  righteous  sword; 


I 


GOLDEN   BOYS  49 

Only  through  Me  shall^Peace  be  surely  found^ed; 

Only  through  Me!   .    .    .   Then  bid  Me  to  the  Board!" 

Can  we  not  rise  to  such  great  height  of  glory  ? 
Shall  this  vast  sorrow  spend  itself  in  vain? 
Shall  future  ages  tell  the  wojul  story, — 
"Christ  by  His  own  was  crucified  again"? 

GOLDEN   BOYS 

WINIFRED  M.  LETTS 

Not  harps  and  palms  for  these,  O  God, 

Nor  endless  rest  within  the  courts  of  heaven — 

These  happy  boys  who  left  the  football-field, 

The  hockey  ground,  the  river,  the  eleven, 

In  a  far  grimmer  game,  with  high-elated  souls, 

To  score  their  goals. 

Let  these,  0  God,  still  test  their  manhood's  strength, 

Wrestle  and  leap  and  run, 

Feel  sea  and  wind  and  sun ; 

With  Cherubim  contend; 

The  timeless  morning  spend 

In  great  celestial  games. 

Let  there  be  laughter  and  a  merry  noise 

Now  that  the  fields  of  Heaven  shine 

With  all  these  golden  boys. 


WHY  WE   FIGHT  1 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  our  people  were  stunned, 
blinded,  terrified  by  the  extent  of  the  world  disaster. 
Those  among  our  leaders  who  were  greedy,  those  who 
were  selfish  and  ease-loving,  those  who  were  timid  and 
those  who  were  merely  short-sighted,  all  joined  to  blind- 
fold the  eyes  and  dull  the  conscience  of  the  people  so  that 
it  might  neither  see  iniquity  nor  gird  its  loins  for  the 
inevitable  struggle.  But  at  last  we  stand  with  our  faces 
to  the  light.  At  last  we  have  faced  our  duty.  Now  it 
behooves  us  to  do  this  duty  with  masterful  efficiency. 

We  are  in  the  war.  But  we  are  not  yet  awake.  We 
are  passing  through,  in  exaggerated  form,  the  phase 
through  which  England  passed  during  the  first  year  of 
the  war.  A  very  large  number  of  Englishmen  fooled 
themselves  with  the  idea  that  they  lived  on  an  island  and 
were  safe  anyhow;  that  the  war  would  soon  be  over,  and 
that  if  they  went  on  with  their  business  as  usual  and 
waved  flags  and  applauded  patriotic  speeches  somebody 
else  would  do  the  fighting  for  them.  England  has  seen 
the  error  of  her  way;  she  has  paid  in  blood  and  agony  for 
her  shortsightedness ;  she  is  now  doing  her  duty  with  stem 
resolution.  We  are  repeating  her  early  errors  on  a  larger 
scale;  and  assuredly  we  shall  pay  heavily  if  we  do  not  in 
time  awake  from  our  short-sighted  apathy  and  foolish, 
self-sufficient  optimism. 

We  live  on  a  continent.  We  have  trusted  to  that  fact 
for  safety  in  the  past;  we  do  not  understand  that  world 

1  From  the  speech  delivered  before  the  Moose  Convention  at  Pitts- 
burgh, July  26,  191 7. 

50 


Copyright    liy    f iirifdinst 


Theodore  Roosevelt 


THE    RIDERLESS   HORSE  51 

conditions  have  changed,  and  that  the  oceans  and  even  the 
air  have  become  highways  for  mihtary  aggression.  The 
exploits  of  the  German  U-boat  off  Nantucket  last  summer 
— exploits  which  nothing  but  feebleness,  considerations  of 
political  expediency,  and  downright  lack  of  courage  on  our 
part  permitted — showed  that  if  Germany  or  any  other 
possible  opponent  of  ours  were  free  to  deal  with  us,  the 
security  that  an  ocean  barrier  once  offered  was  anni- 
hilated. In  other  words,  the  battle  front  of  Europe  is 
slowly  spreading  over  the  whole  world.  Unless  we  beat 
Germany  in  Europe,  we  shall  have  to  fight  her  deadly 
ambition  on  our  own  coasts  and  in  our  own  continent. 
A  great  American  army  in  Europe  now  is  the  best  pos- 
sible insurance  against  a  great  European  or  Asiatic  army 
in  our  own  country  a  couple  of  years  or  a  couple  of 
decades  hence. 

THE   RIDERLESS   HORSE 

HAROLD  T.  PULSIFER 

Close  ranks  and  ride  on ! 
Though  his  saddle  be  bare, 
The  bullet  is  sped, 
Now  the  dead 
Cannot  care. 
Close  ranks  and  ride  on ! 
Let  the  pitiless  stride 
Of  the  host  that  he  led, 
Though  his  saddle  be  red, 
Sweep  on  like  the  tide. 
Close  ranks  and  ride  on ! 
The  banner  he  bore 
For  God  and  the  right 


52  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Never  faltered  before. 
Quick,  up  with  it,  then! 
For  the  right !     For  the  Hght ! 
Lest  legions  of  men 
Be  lost  in  the  night! 

A  CAVALRY  CATCH 

WILLIAM  SHARP 

Up!  for  the  bugles  are  calling, 

Saddle,  to  boot,  and  away! 
Sabres  are  clanking,  and  lances  are  glancing, 
The'colonel  is  swearing  and  horses  are  prancing. 

So  up  with  the  sabres  and  lances, 
Up  and  away ! 

« 

Where  are  we  off  to,  say? 

Saddle,  and  boot,  and  away! 
With  a  thunder  of  hoofs  in  a  rush  we  go  past, 
In  a  whirlwind  of  dust  we  are  gone  as  a  blast  — 

For  we  're  off  with  the  sabres  and  lances, 
Off  and  away! 

iZ^it^'  A   LULLABY 

G.  R.  GLASGOW 
Because  some  men  in  khaki  coats 

Are  marching  out  to  war, 
Beneath  a  torn  old  flag  that  floats 

As  proudly  as  before; 
Because  they  will  not  stop  or  stay, 

But  march  with  eager  tread, 
A  little  baby  far  away 

Sleeps  safely  in  her  bed. 


A   LULLABY  53 

Because  some  grim,  gray  sentinels      \ 

Stand  always  silently, 
Where  each  dull  shadow  falls  and  swells. 

Upon  a  restless  sea; 
Because  their  lonely  watch  they  keep, 

With  keen  and  wakeful  eyes, 
A  little  child  may  safely  sleep 

Until  the  sun  shall  rise. 

Because  some  swift  and  shadowy  things 

Hold  patient  guard  on  high, 
Like  birds  or  sails  or  shielding  wings 

Against  a  stormy  sky; 
Because  a  strange  light  spreads  and  sweeps 

Across  a  darkened  way, 
A  little  baby  softly  sleeps 

Until  the  dawn  of  day. 


^ 


OUR  COMMON   HERITAGE  1 

ARTHUR  J.  BALFOUR 

Will  you  permit  me,  on  behalf  of  my  friends  and 
myself,  to  offer  you  my  deepest  and  sincerest  thanks 
for  the  rare  and  valued  honor  which  you  have  done  us 
by  receiving  us  here  to-day?  We  all  feel  the  greatness 
of  this  honor,  but  I  think  to  none  of  us  can  it  come  home 
so  closely  as  to  one  who,  like  myself,  has  been  for  forty- 
three  years  in  the  service  of  a  free  assembly  like  your  own. 
I  rejoice  to  think  that  a  member — a  very  old  member,  I 
am  sorry  to  say — of  the  British  House  of  Commons  has 
been  received  here  to-day  by  this  great  sister  assembly 
with  such  kindness  as  you  have  shown  to  me  and  to  my 
friends. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  these  two  assemblies  are  the 
greatest  and  the  oldest  in  the  world  of  the  free  assemblies 
now  governing  great  nations.  The  history  indeed  of 
the  two  is  very  different.  The  beginnings  of  the  British 
House  of  Commons  go  back  to  a  dim  historic  past,  and  its 
full  rights  and  status  have  only  been  conquered  and  per- 
manently secured  after  centuries  of  political  struggle. 
Your  fate  has  been  a  happier  one.  You  were  called  into 
existence  at  a  much  later  stage  of  social  development. 
You  came  into  being  complete  and  perfected  and  all  your 
powers  determined,  and  your  place  in  the  Constitution 
secured  beyond  chance  of  revolution;  but,  though  the 
history  of  these  two  great  assemblies  is  different,  each  of 
them  represents  the  great  democratic  principle  to  which 

1  Delivered  before  the  House  of  Representatives,  Washington,  on 
May  5,  191 7. 

54 


Copyright   by   Clinediust 


Arthur  James  Balfour 


OUR   COMMON   HERITAGE  55 

we  look  forward  as  the  security  for  the  future  peace 
of  the  world.  All  of  the  free  assemblies  noW  to  be  found 
governing  the  great  nations  of  the  earth  have  been 
modeled  either  upon  your  practice  or  upon  ours,  or  upon 
both  combined. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  compliment  paid  to  the  mission  from 
Great  Britain  by  such  an  assembly  and  upon  such  an 
occasion  is  one  not  one  of  us  is  ever  likely  to  forget,  but 
there  is  something,  after  all,  even  deeper  and  more 
significant  in  the  circumstances  under  which  I  now  have 
the  honor  to  address  you,  than  any  which  arise  out  of 
the  interchange  of  courtesies,  however  sincere,  between 
two  great  and  friendly  nations.  We  all,  I  think,  feel 
instinctively  that  this  is  one  of  the  great  moments  in  the 
history  of  the  world  and  that  what  is  now  happening  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  represents  the  drawing  together 
of  great  and  free  peoples  for  mutual  protection  against  the 
aggression  of  military  despotism. 

I  am  not  one  of  those  and  none  of  you  are  among  those 
who  are  such  bad  democrats  as  to  say  that  democracies 
make  no  mistakes.  All  free  assemblies  have  made  blun- 
ders; sometimes  they  have  committed  crimes.  Why  is 
it,  then,  that  we  look  forward  to  the  spread  of  free  insti- 
tutions throughout  the  world,  and  especially  among  our 
present  enemies,  as  one  of  the  greatest  guaranties  of  the 
future  peace  of  the  world? 

I  will  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  how'it  seems  to  me. 

It  is  quite  true  that  the  people  and  the  representatives 
of  the  people  may  be  betrayed  by  some  momentary  gust 
of  passion  into  a  policy  which  they  ultimately  deplore, 
but  it  is  only  a  military  despotism  of  the  German 
type  that  can,  through  generations,  if  need  be,  pursue 


56  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

steadily,  remorselessly,  unscrupulously,  and  appallingly 
the  object  of  dominating  the  civilization  of  mankind. 

And,  mark  you,  this  evil,  this  menace  under  which  we 
are  now  suffering,  is  not  one  which  diminishes  with  the 
growth  of  knowledge  and  progress  of  material  civilization, 
but  on  the  contrary  it  increases  with  them. 

When  I  was  young,  we  used  to  flatter  ourselves  that 
progress  inevitably  meant  peace,  and  that  growth  of 
knowledge  was  always  accompanied  as  its  natural  fruit 
by  the  growth  of  good  will  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
Unhappily  we  know  better  now,  and  we  know  there  is 
such  a  thing  in  the  world  as  a  power  which  can,  with  un- 
varying persistence,  focus  all  the  resources  of  knowledge 
and  of  civilization  into  the  one  great  task  of  making  itself 
the  moral  and  material  master  of  the  world. 

It  is  against  that  danger  that  we,  the  free  peoples  of 
western  civilization,  have  banded  ourselves  together. 

It  is  in  that  great  cause  that  we  are  going  to  fight  and 
are  fighting  at  this  very  moment  side  by  side.  In  that 
cause  we  shall  surely  conquer;  and  our  children  will  look 
back  to  this  fateful  date  as  the  one  from  which  democ- 
racies can  feel  secure  that  their  progress,  their  civilization, 
their  rivalry,  if  need  be,  will  be  conducted,  not  on  German 
lines,  but  in  the  friendly  and  Christian  spirit  which  really 
befits  the  age  in  which  we  live. 

Mr.  Speaker,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  beg  most  sincerely 
to  repeat  again  how  heartily  I  thank  you  for  the  cordial 
welcome  which  you  have  given  us  to-day,  and  to  repeat 
my  profound  sense  of  the  significance  of  this  unique 
meeting. 


PEACE   HYMN   FOR   ENGLAND  AND   AMERICA     57 
PEACE  HYMN   FOR  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA 

GEORGE  HUNTINGTON 

Two  empires  by  the  sea,  ^,,   ■. 

Two  nations  great  and  free,  j 

One  anthem  raise. 
One  race  of  ancient  fame, 
One  tongue,  one  faith,  we  claim; 
One  God,  whose  glorious  name 

We  love  and  praise. 

What  deeds  our  fathers  wrought, 
What  battles  we  have  fought, 

Let  fame  record. 
Now,  vengeful  passion  cease, 
Come,  victories  of  peace; 
Nor  hate  nor  pride's  caprice 

Unsheathe  the  sword. 

Though  deep  the  sea,  and  wide, 
'Twixt  realm  and  realm,  its  tide 

Binds  strand  and  strand. 
So  be  the  gulf  between 
Gray  coasts  and  islands  green 
With  bonds  of  peace  serene 

And  friendship  spanned. 

Now,  may  the  God  above 
Guard  the  dear  land  we  love. 

Both  east  and  west. 
Let  love  more  fervent  glow 
As  peaceful  ages  go. 
And  strength  yet  stronger  grow, 

Blessing  and  blest. 


58  THE    SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

MALBROUK  — ET   NOUS 

When  the  great  Duke  Marlborough  took  the  field 

The  ladies  waved  and  the  belfries  pealed, 

The  cottars  shouted  from  roofs  and  ricks, 

The  drum-boys  flourished  their  polished  sticks. 

The  cymbals  clashed  and  the  trumpets  played 

A  brazen,  clarion  fanfarade. 

Behind  the  lumbering  cannon  paced 

The  scarlet  infantry,  frogged  and  laced; 

In  velvets,  ruffles  and  crimped  perukes 

The  noble  gentlemen  of  the  Duke's 

Terrible  cavalry  jingled  by. 

With  banners  splendid  against  the  sky. 

War  is  not  what  it  was  of  yore; 

Our  trumpets  lie  in  the  Depot  store. 

Our  colors  hang  in  the  Depot  mess, 

We're  not  conspicuous  in  our  dress. 

Leather  and  khaki,  drab  and  tan 

Is  the  dernier  cri  for  a  fighting  man ; 

But  we  like  our  noise,  and  we  make  a  band 

Of  any  old  thing  that  comes  to  hand, 

And  we  throw  our  chests  and  we  shift  our  shins 

To  penny-whistles  and  biscuit  tins. 

Though  we  drum  to  war  on  a  biscuit  lid 

We  '11  do  as  the  great  Duke  Marlborough  did. 

— From  Punch 


THE   MEMORIAL   DAY   ADDRESS  ^ 

WOODROW  WILSON 

The  program  has  conferred  an  unmerited  dignity  upon 
the  remarks  I  am  going  to  make  by  caUing  them  an 
address,  because  I  am  not  here  to  deHver  an  address.  I 
am  here  merely  to  show  in  my  official  capacity  the  sym- 
pathy of  this  great  Government  with  the  object  of  this 
occasion,  and  also  to  speak  just  a  word  of  the  sentiment 
that  is  in  my  own  heart. 

Any  memorial  day  of  this  sort  is,  of  course,  a  day 
touched  with  sorrowful  memory,  and  yet  I  for  one  do  not 
see  how  we  can  have  any  thought  of  pity  for  the  men 
whose  memory  we  honor  to-day.  I  do  not  pity  them. 
I  envy  them,  rather,  because  their  great  work  for  liberty 
is  accomplished,  and  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  work  unfin- 
ished, testing  our  strength  where  their  strength  already 
has  been  tested. 

There  is  a  touch  of  sorrow,  but  there  is  also  a  touch  of 
reassurance  in  a  day  like  this,  because  we  know  how 
the  men  of  America  have  responded  to  the  call  of  the  cause 
of  liberty,  and  it  fills  our  mind  with  a  perfect  assurance 
that  that  response  will  come  again  in  equal  measures, 
with  equal  majesty,  and  with  a  result  which  will  hold  the 
attention  of  all  mankind. 

When  you  reflect  upon  it,  these  men  who  died  to  pre- 
serve the  Union  died  to  preserve  the  instrument  which 
we  are  now  using  to  serve  the  world — a  free  nation  espous- 
ing the  cause  of  human  liberty.     In  one  sense  the  great 


1  From  the  speech  delivered  May  30,  191 7. 

59 


6o  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

struggle  into  which  we  have  now  entered  is  an  American 
struggle,  because  it  is  in  defense  of  American  honor  and 
American  rights,  but  it  is  something  even  greater  than 
that;  it  is  a  world  struggle.  It  is  the  struggle  of  men  who 
love  liberty  everywhere;  and  in  this  cause  America  will 
show  herself  greater  than  ever  because  she  will  rise  to  a 
greater  thing. 

We  have  said  in  the  beginning  that  we  planned  this 
great  Government  that  men  who  wish  freedom  might  have 
a  place  of  refuge  and  a  place  where  their  hope  could  be 
realized,  and  now,  having  established  such  a  Government, 
having  preserved  such  a  Government,  having  vindicated 
the  power  of  such  a  Government,  we  are  saying  to  all 
mankind,  "We  did  not  set  this  Government  up  in  order 
that  we  might  have  a  selfish  and  separate  liberty,  for  we 
are  now  ready  to  come  to  your  assistance  and  fight  out 
upon  the  fields  of  the  world  the  cause  of  human  liberty. ' ' 

No  man  can  be  glad  that  such  things  have  happened 
as  we  have  witnessed  in  these  last  fateful  years,  but 
perhaps  it  may  be  permitted  to  us  to  be  glad  that  we  have 
an  opportunity  to  show  the  principles  which  we  profess 
to  be  living — principles  which  live  in  our  hearts — and  to 
have  a  chance  by  pouring  out  of  our  blood  and  treasure 
to  vindicate  the  things  which  we  have  professed.  For, 
my  friends,  the  real  fruition  of  life  is  to  do  the  things  we 
have  said  we  wished  to  do.  There  are  times  when  words 
seem  empty  and  only  action  seems  great.  Such  a  time 
has  come,  and  in  the  providence  of  God,  America  will  once 
more  have  an  opportunity  to  show  to  the  world  that  she 
was  born  to  serve  mankind. 


GETTYSBURG   ADDRESS  6i 

GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS  , 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought 
forth  on  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty 
and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created 
equal. 

Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether 
that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated, 
can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle  field  of 
that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that 
field  as  a  final  resting  place  for  those  who  here  gave  their 
lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting 
and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  can  not  dedicate — we  can  not 
consecrate — we  can  not  hallow — this  ground.  The  brave 
men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  conse- 
crated it  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or  detract.  The 
world  will  little  note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say  here, 
but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us, 
the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished 
work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly 
advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the 
great  task  remaining  before  us — that  from  these  honored 
dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which 
they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion — that  we  here 
highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain 
— that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of 
freedom — and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 


62  THE    SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN    WALKS    AT    MIDNIGHT 

(In  Springfield,  Illinois) 
VACHEL   LINDSAY 

It  is  portentous,  and  a  thing  of  state 
That  here  at  midnight,  in  our  little  town 
A  mourning  figure  walks,  and  will  not  rest. 
Near  the  old  courthouse  pacing  up  and  down, 

Or  by  his  homestead,  or  in  shadowed  yards 
He  lingers  where  his  children  used  to  play. 
Or  through  the  market,  on  the  well-worn  stones 
He  stalks  until  the  dawn-stars  bum  away. 

A  bronzed,  lank  man !     His  suit  of  ancient  black, 
A  famous  high  top-hat  and  plain  worn  shawl 
Make  him  the  quaint  great  figure  that  men  love. 
The  prairie-lawyer,  master  of  us  all. 

He  cannot  sleep  upon  his  hillside  now. 
He  is  among  us: — as  in  times  before! 
And  we  who  toss  and  lie  awake  for  long 
Breathe  deep,  and  start,  to  see  him  pass  the  door. 

His  head  is  bowed.     He  thinks  on  men  and  kings. 
Yea,  when  the  sick  world  cries,  how  can  he  sleep? 
Too  many  peasants  fight,  they  know  not  why, 
Too  many  homesteads  in  black  terror  weep. 

The  sins  of  all  the  war-lords  burn  his  heart. 
He  sees  the  dreadnaughts  scouring  every  main. 
He  carries  on  his  shawl-wrapped  shoulders  now 
The  bitterness,  the  folly  and  the  pain. 


UNION  63 

He  cannot  rest  until  a  spirit-dawn  ^ 

Shall  come; — the  shining  hope  of  Europe  free: 
The  league  of  sober  folk,  the  Workers'  Earth, 
Bringing  long  peace  to  Cornland,  Alp  and  Sea. 

It  breaks  his  heart  that  kings  must  murder  still, 
That  all  his  hoiirs  of  travail  here  for  men 
Seem  yet  in  vain.     And  who  will  bring  white  peace 
That  he  may  sleep  upon  his  hill  again? 

UNION 

VIRGINIA  FRASER  BOYLE 

Out  of  the  mists  and  the  storms  of  the  years, 
Out  of  the  glory  of  triumph  and  tears. 
Out  of  the  ashes  of  hope  and  of  fears. 
The  Old  South  still  leads  on. 

She  is  bringing  to-day  what  her  hands  have  wrought. 
What  her  mother's  heart  at  her  knee  has  taught  — 
Her  treasure  of  time  that  her  blood  has  bought  — 
To  lay  at  the  Nation's  feet. 

Not  the  tattered  things  which  she  waves  to-day  — 
Not  the  Stars  and  Bars  she  has  laid  away, 
Nor  the  bended  forms  in  their  coats  of  gray  — 
Her  wondrous  pledge  to  the  past ; 

But  the  spirit  that  stirs  through  the  dust  of  the  grave, 
Wherever  the  flags  of  the  Union  wave ; 
The  valor  the  God  of  her  heroes  gave 
To  freedom  and  liberty. 


64  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

She  comes  with  the  cry  that  led  her  on, 
When  freedom  and  hberty  first  were  born  — 
And  the  name  of  her  peerless  Washington  — 
The  nigged  strength  of  her  days. 

She  has  kept  unmixed,  through  her  years  of  pain, 
America's  blood  in  its  purest  vein; 
As  she  gave  to  the  past,  she  gives  again 
For  the  glory  of  her  land. 

With  a  patriot's  faith  in  the  days  to  be, 
She  is  pressing  the  seal  of  destiny 
With  the  fame  of  her  Jackson  and  her  Lee  — 
The  heritage  of  her  sons. 

And  she  sees  in  her  ruddy  boy  to-day. 
In  his  khaki  coat,  her  lad  in  gray, 
And  back  of  the  drums  her  heartstrings  play, 
When  the  bugles  shout  and  call. 

But  her  mother  love  is  not  dismayed  — 
She  has  laid  her  treasure  unafraid 
On  the  shrine  where  the  sad-eyed  Lincoln  prayed 
That  the  Union  might  not  break. 

How  they  troop,  that  host  that  can  never  die ! 
A  nation's  heroes  passing  by  — 
The  spirits  that  brook  nor  earth  nor  sky  — 
For  the  deathless  dead  have  heard: 

They  are  marching  out  with  a  shadowy  lance, 
With  the  sons  of  sons  to  the  fields  of  France ; 


UNION  65 

And  they  stand  at  the  guns  while  the  bullets  \glance, 
Where  England  fights  to  win. 

Oh !  hallowed  earth  of  the  brave  and  the  free  — ■ 
Oh !  pledges  of  life  and  liberty  — 
They  are  keeping  the  tryst  on  the  land  and  the  sea, 
Of  a  nation  forever  one ! 

Read  in  Washington  to  Veterans  of  the  Confederacy,  191 7. 


SUPPORTING   THE   GOVERNMENT  ^ 

ELIHU   ROOT 

The  declaration  of  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Germany  completely  changed  the  relations  of  all  the 
inhabitants  of  this  country  to  the  subject  of  peace  and 
war. 

Before  the  declaration  everybody  had  a  right  to  discuss 
in  private  and  in  public  the  question  whether  the  United 
States  should  carry  on  war  against  Germany.  Every- 
body had  a  right  to  argue  that  there  was  no  sufficient  cause 
for  war,  that  the  consequences  of  war  would  be  worse 
than  the  consequences  of  continued  peace,  that  it  would 
be  wiser  to  submit  to  the  aggressions  of  Germany  against 
American  rights,  that  it  would  be  better  to  have  Germany 
succeed  than  to  have  the  allies  succeed  in  the  great  conflict. 

Everybody  holding  these  views  had  a  right  by  express- 
ing them  to  seek  to  influence  public  opinion  and  to  affect 
the  action  of  the  President  and  the  Congress,  to  whom  the 
people  of  the  country  by  their  constitution  have  entrusted 
the  power  to  determine  whether  the  United  States  shall  or 
shall  not  make  war. 

But  the  question  of  peace  or  war  has  now  been  decided 
by  the  President  and  Congress,  the  sole  authorities  which 
had  the  right  to  decide,  the  lawful  authorities  who  rested 
under  the  duty  to  decide.  The  question  no  longer  remains 
open.  It  has  been  determined  and  the  United  States  is 
at  war  with  Germany. 

The  decision  was  made  by  overwhelming  majorities  of 
both  houses  of  Congress.     When  such  a  decision  has  been 

1  From  the  speech  deHvered  at  Chicago  September  14,  1917. 

66 


Copyright  by  Clinedioat 


Elihu  Root 


SUPPORTING   THE   GOVERNMENT  67 

made  the  duties — and  therefore  the  rights— of  all  the 
people  of  the  country  immediately  change. 

It  becomes  their  duty  to  stop  discussion  upon  the  ques- 
tion decided,  and  to  act,  to  proceed  immediately  to  do 
everything  in  their  power  to  enable  the  government  of 
their  country  to  succeed  in  the  war  upon  which  the 
country  has  entered. 

It  is  a  fundamental  necessity  of  government  that  it 
shall  have  the  power  to  decide  great  questions  of  policy 
and  to  act  upon  its  decision.  In  order  that  there  shall  be 
action  following  a  decision  once  made,  the  decision  must 
be  accepted.  Discussion  upon  the  question  must  be 
deemed  closed. 

A  nation  which  declares  war  and  goes  on  discussing 
whether  it  ought  to  have  declared  war  or  not  is  impotent, 
paralyzed,  imbecile,  and  earns  the  contempt  of  mankind 
and  the  certainty  of  humiliating  defeat  and  subjection  to 
foreign  control. 

A  democracy  which  cannot  accept  its  own  decisions, 
made  in  accordance  with  its  own  laws,  but  must  keep  on 
endlessly  discussing  questions  already  decided,  has  failed 
in  the  fundamental  requirements  of  self-government; 
and,  if  the  decision  is  to  make  war,  the  failure  to  exhibit 
capacity  for  self-government  by  action  will  inevitably 
result  in  the  loss  of  the  right  of  self-government. 

Before  the  decision  of  a  proposal  to  make  war,  men 
may  range  themselves  upon  one  side  or  the  other  of  the 
question ;  but  after  the  decision  in  favor  of  war,  is  made, 
the  country  has  ranged  itself,  and  the  only  issue  left  for 
the  individual  citizen  is  whether  he  is  for  or  against  his 
country.  From  that  time  on  arguments  against  the  war 
in  which  the  country  is  engaged  are  enemy  arguments. 


68  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

There  are  doubtless  some  who  do  not  understand  what, 
this  struggle  really  is.  Some  who  were  bom  here  resent 
interference  with  their  comfort  and  prosperity,  and  the 
demands  for  sacrifice  which  seem  to  them  unnecessary 
and  they  fail  to  see  that  the  time  has  come  when,  if 
Americans  are  to  keep  the  independence  and  liberty  which 
their  fathers  won  by  suffering  and  sacrifice,  they  in  their 
turn  must  fight  again  for  the  preservation  of  that  inde- 
pendence and  liberty. 

Somebody  has  to  decide  where  armies  are  to  fight, 
whether  our  territory  is  to  be  defended  by  waiting  here 
until  we  are  attacked  or  by  going  out  and  attacking  the 
enemy  before  they  get  here.  The  power  to  make  that 
decision  and  the  duty  to  make  it  rest  under  the  constitu- 
tion of  this  country  with  the  President  as  commander- 
in-chief. 

When  the  President  has  decided  that  the  best  way  to 
beat  Germany  is  to  send  American  troops  to  France  and 
Belgium,  that  is  the  way  the  war  must  be  carried  on,  if 
at  all.  I  think  the  decision  was  wise.  Others  may  think 
it  unwise.  But,  when  the  decision  has  been  made,  what 
we  think  is  immaterial.  The  commander-in-chief,  with 
all  the  advice  and  all  the  wisdom  he  can  command,  has 
decided  when  and  where  the  American  army  is  to  move. 
The  army  must  obey,  and  all  loyal  citizens  of  the  country 
will  do  their  utmost  to  make  that  movement  a  success. 

This  is  a  war  of  defense.  It  is  perfectly  described  in 
the  words  of  the  constitution  which  established  this 
nation:  "To  provide  for  the  common  defense"  and  "To 
secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity." 

The  national  defense  demands  not  merely  force,  but 


SUPPORTING   THE   GOVERNMENT  69 

intelligence.  It  requires  foresight,  consideration  of  the 
policies  and  purposes  of  other  nations,  understanding  of 
the  inevitable  or  probable  consequences  of  the  acts  of 
other  nations,  judgment  as  to  the  time  when  successful 
defense  may  be  made,  and  when  it  will  be  too  late,  and 
prompt  action  before  it  is  too  late. 

For  many  years  we  have  pursued  our  peaceful  course  of 
internal  development  protected  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
We  were  protected  by  the  law  of  nations  to  which  all 
civilized  governments  have  professed  their  allegiance.  So 
long  as  we  committed  no  injustice  ourselves  we  could  not 
be  attacked  without  a  violation  of  that  law. 

We  were  protected  by  a  series  of  treaties  under  which 
all  the  principal  nations  of  the  earth  agreed  to  respect 
our  rights  and  to  maintain  friendship  with  us.  We  were 
protected  by  an  extensive  system  of  arbitration  created 
by  or  consequent  upon  the  peace  conferences  at  The 
Hague,  and  under  which  all  controversies  arising  under 
the  law  and  under  treaties  were  to  be  settled  peaceably 
by  arbitration  and  not  by  force. 

We  were  protected  by  the  broad  expanse  of  ocean  sepa- 
rating us  from  all  great  military  powers,  and  by  the  bold 
assertion  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  that  if  any  of  those 
powers  undertook  to  overpass  the  ocean  and  establish 
itself  upon  these  western  continents  that  would  be  re- 
garded as  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
United  States,  and  would  call  upon  her  to  act  in  her 
defense. 

We  were  protected  by  the  fact  that  the  policy  and  the 
fleet  of  Great  Britain  were  well  known  to  support  the 
Monroe  Doctrine.  We  were  protected  by  the  delicate 
balance  of  power  in  Europe  which  made  it  seem  not  worth 


70  THE   SPIRITiOF   DEMOCRACY 

while  for  any  power  to  engage  in  a  conflict  here  at  the 
risk  of  suffering  from  its  rivals  there.  All  these  protec- 
tions were  swept  away  by  the  war  which  began  in  Europe 
in  1914. 

America's  independence  would  be  gone  unless  she  was 
ready  to  fight  for  it,  and  her  security  would  thenceforth 
be  not  a  security  of  freedom,  but  only  a  security  piurchased 
by  submission. 

Congress  has  been  in  continuous  session  passing  with 
unprecedented  rapidity  laws  containing  grants  of  power 
and  of  money  unexampled  in  our  history.  The  executive 
establishment  has  been  straining  every  nerve  to  prepare 
for  war.  The  ablest  and  strongest  leaders  of  industrial 
activity  have  been  called  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to 
aid  the  government. 

The  people  of  the  country  have  generously  responded 
with  noble  loyalty  and  enthusiasm  to  the  call  for  the 
surrender  of  money  and  of  customary  rights,  and  the  sup- 
ply of  men  to  the  service  of  the  country. 

This  is  no  ordinary  war  which  the  world  is  waging.  It 
is  no  contest  for  petty  policies  and  profits.  It  is  a  mighty 
and  all-embracing  struggle  between  two  conflicting  prin- 
ciples of  human  right  and  human  duty. 

It  is  a  conflict  between  the  divine  right  of  kings  to  gov- 
ern mankind  through  armies  and  nobles  and  the  right  of 
the  peoples  of  the  earth  to  toil  and  endure  and  aspire  to 
govern  themselves  by  law  in  the  freedom  of  individual 
manhood. 

It  is  the  climax  of  the  supreme  struggle  between  autoc- 
racy and  democracy.  No  nation  can  stand  aside  and  be 
free  from  its  effects.  The  two  systems  cannot  endure 
together  in  the  same  world. 


SUPPORTING   THE   GOVERNMENT  71 

If  autocracy  triumphs,  military  power  lustful  of  domin- 
ion, supreme  in  strength,  intolerant  of  human  rights, 
holding  itself  superior  to  law,  to  morals,  to  faith,  to  com- 
passion, will  crush  out  the  free  democracies  of  the  world. 
If  autocracy  is  defeated  and  nations  are  compelled  to 
recognize  the  rules  of  law  and  of  morals,  then  and  then 
only  will  democracy  be  safe. 

To  this  great  conflict  for  human  rights  and  human 
liberty  America  has  committed  herself.  There  can  be 
no  backward  step.  There  must  be  either  humiliating  and 
degrading  submission  or  terrible  defeat  or  glorious  victory. 
It  was  no  human  will  that  brought  us  to  this  pass.  It  was 
not  the  President.  It  was  not  Congress.  It  was  not  the 
press.  It  was  not  any  political  party.  It  was  not  any 
section  or  part  of  our  people. 

It  was  that  in  the  providence  of  God  the  mighty  forces 
that  determine  the  destinies  of  mankind  beyond  the  con- 
trol of  human  purpose  have  brought  to  us  the  time,  the 
occasion,  the  necessity,  that  this  peaceful  people  so  long 
enjoying  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  justice  for  which 
their  fathers  fought  and  sacrificed  shall  again  gird  them- 
selves for  conflict,  and  with  all  the  forces  of  manhood 
nurtured  and  strengthened  by  liberty  offer  again  the 
sacrifice  of  possessions  and  of  life  itself,  that  this  nation 
may  still  be  free,  that  the  mission  of  American  democracy 
shall  not  have  failed,  that  the  world  shall  be  free. 


Breathes  there  the  man,  with  soul  so  dead. 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said. 

This  is  my  own,  my  native  land? 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burned, 


72  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turned 

From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand? 
If  such  there  breathe,  go,  mark  him  well; 
For  him  no  minstrel  raptures  swell ; 
High  though  his  titles,  proud  his  name, 
Boundless  his  wealth  as  wish  can  claim, — 
Despite  those  titles,  power,  and  pelf. 
The  wretch,  concentred  all  in  self, 
Living,  shall  forfeit  fair  renown. 
And,  doubly  dying,  shall  go  down 
To  the  vile  dust  from  whence  he  sprung, 
Unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung. 

—From  Scott's  "Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel" 


"OF  OLD  SAT  FREEDOM  ON  THE  HEIGHTS" 

ALFRED  TENNYSON 

Of  old  sat  Freedom  on  the  heights. 

The  thunders  breaking  at  her  feet : 
Above  her  shook  the  starry  lights : 

She  heard  the  torrents  meet. 

There  in  her  place  she  did  rejoice, 

Self-gather'd  in  her  prophet-mind, 
But  fragments  of  her  mighty  voice 

Came  rolling  on  the  wind. 

Then  stept  she  down  thro'  town  and  field 

To  mingle  with  the  human  race. 
And  part  by  part  to  men  reveal'd 

The  fulness  of  her  face  — 


THE   PRESENT   CRISIS  73 

Grave  mother  of  majestic  works,  \ 

From  her  isle-altar  gazing  down, 
Who,  God-like,  grasps  the  triple  forks, 

And  King-like,  wears  the  crown: 

Her  open  eyes  desire  the  truth. 

The  wisdom  of  a  thousand  years 
Is  in  them.     May  perpetual  youth 

Keep  dry  their  light  from  tears; 

That  her  fair  form  may  stand  and  shine, 
Make  bright  our  days  and  Ught  our  dreams. 

Turning  to  scorn  with  Hps  divine 
The  falsehood  of  extremes ! 

THE   PRESENT   CRISIS 

JAMES    RUSSELL    LOWELL 

Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to 

decide, 
In  the  strife  of  Truth  with  Falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil 

side; 
Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  offering  each  the 

bloom  or  blight. 
Parts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand,  and  the  sheep  upon 

the  right. 
And  the  choice  goes  by  forever  'twixt  that  darkness  and 

that  light. 

Hast  thou  chosen,  O  my  people,  on  whose  party  thou 

shalt  stand. 
Ere  the  Doom  from  its  worn  sandals  shakes  the  dust 

against  our  land? 


74  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Though  the  cause  of  Evil  prosper,  yet  'tis  Truth  alone  is 

strong, 
And,  albeit  she  wander  outcast  now,  I  see  around  her 

throng 
Troops  of  beautiful,  tall  angels,  to  enshield  her  from  all 

wrong. 

********* 

Careless  seems  the  great  Avenger;  history's  pages  but 

record 
One  death-grapple  in  the  darkness  'twixt  old  systems  and 

the  Word ; 
Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold,  Wrong  forever   on   the 

throne, — 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future,  and,  behind  the  dim 

unknown, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above 

his  own. 


CARRY   ON! 

ROBERT  W.  SERVICE 

It's  easy  to  fight  when  everything's  right. 

And  you're  mad  with  the  thrill  and  the  glory: 

It 's  easy  to  cheer  when  victory 's  near, 

And  wallow  in  fields  that  are  gory. 

It's  a  different  song  when  everything's  wrong, 

When  you're  feeling  infernally  mortal; 

When  it 's  ten  against  one,  and  hope  there  is  none, 

Buck  up,  little  soldier,  and  chortle : 


CARRY   ON!  75 

Carry  on !     Carry  on ! 
There  isn't  much  punch  in  your  blow. 
You're  glaring  and  staring  and  hitting  out  blind; 
You're  ii^uddy  and  bloody,  but  never  you  mind. 
Carry  on !     Carry  on ! 
You  have  n't  the  ghost  of  a  show. 
It's  looking  like  death,  but  while  you've  a  breath, 
Carry  on,  my  son!     Carry  on! 

And  so  in  the  strife  of  the  battle  of  life 
It's  easy  to  fight  when  you're  winning; 
It 's  easy  to  slave,  and  starve  and  be  brave, 
When  the  dawn  of  success  is  beginning. 
But  the  man  who  can  meet  despair  and  defeat 
With  a  cheer,  there's  the  man  of  God's  choosing; 
The  man  who  can  fight  to  Heaven's  own  height 
Is  the  man  who  can  fight  when  he's  losing. 

Carry  on  I     Carry  on ! 
Things  never  were  looming  so  black. 
But  show  that  you  have  n't  a  cowardly  streak, 
And  though  you  're  unlucky  you  never  are  weak 
Carry  on !     Carry  on ! 
Brace  up  for  another  attack. 
It's  looking  like  hell,  but — you  never  can  tell: 
Carry  on,  old  man!     Carry  on! 


CHANGES  AHEAD  1 

MARION  LeROY  BURTON 

When  we  speak  of  changes  that  are  ahead,  the  most 
serious  question  which  you  and  I  must  meet  is,  Can  the 
democratic  American  government  be  made  efificient? 
That  is  the  question  that  has  been  raised  about  democratic 
government  from  the  days  of  Plato  to  the  present.  You 
and  I  know  that  it  is  a  Httle  difficult  for  us  at  times  to 
assert,  without  any  qualifications,  that  democracy  can 
be  made  efficient.  When  one  thinks  of  the  scandal  of 
American  politics,  of  the  corruption,  the  bribery,  the 
intrigue,  and  the  duplicity,  then  it  is  not  possible  for 
him  to  consider  with  great  composure  some  of  the  things 
that  are  said  by  the  keen,  discriminating  persons  who 
try  to  find  out  whether  we  are  wise,  economical,  and  effi- 
cient in  the  administration  of  our  affairs.  Think  of  the 
Philadelphia  Gas  ring,  think  of  the  Tweed  ring,  think  of 
New  York  city  at  the  present  moment.  Think  of  the 
beautiful  capitol  of  the  great  Empire  state  of  New 
York,  costing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  with 
its  magnificently  carved  mahogany  ceilings  —  until  one 
day  a  janitor  accidentally  slipped  off  a  rafter  and  his  feet 
went  through  brown  paper! 

You  and  I  are  perfectly  aware  of  the  fact  that  these  are 
only  superficial  observations  and  comments  upon  politics 
and  statesmanship  and  municipal  administration  in 
America.  You  and  I  must  admit,  candidly  and  frankly, 
that  all  of  these  things  can  be  said  with  remarkable 


1  From  the  speech  delivered  at  St.Cloud,  Minn.,  October  17,  1917- 

76 


Photo  by  Miller,  Minneapolis,  Minn 


Marion  LeRoy  Burton 


CHANGES   AHEAD  77 

accuracy  about  our  government.  But  you  \and  I  know 
something  that  most  of  our  foreign  critics  never  sense. 
They  always  interpret  us  in  the  terms  of  our  successful 
and  superficial  materialism,  and  they  do  not  come  to 
see  that  back  of  all  of  these  external  things  there  is  here 
the  finest  spirit  of  idealism  that  permeates  any  nation  of 
the  world  to-day. 

You  and  I  know  that  American  government  is  not  what 
the  carping  critic  says  it  is,  but  we  know  that  it  is  what 
you  and  I  dream  in  our  best  moments  it  shall  be  when  we 
have  brought  to  pass  the  things  for  which  we  are  striving ; 
that  is  what  American  government  really  is.  It  is  just 
what  you  and  I  determine  it  shall  be. 

But  there  is  another  change  which  we  must  meet,  and 
it  is  the  thing  which  gives  me  pause  and  serious  concern. 
Somehow  we  must  get  to  the  one  hundred  millions  of  our 
people  a  new  conception  of  what  democracy  really  is. 
You  and  I  have  imagined  in  the  past  that  democracy  is 
a  form  of  government  which  is  responsible  to  the  people. 
That  is  true.  But  we  must  see  that  there  are  two  sides 
to  this  shield.  We  must  recognize  on  the  one  hand  that 
the  government  which  we  make  is  responsible  to  us. 
But  more  and  more,  particularly  in  times  of  war,  we  must 
understand  too  that  the  people  are  responsible  to  the 
government. 

Now  how  are  we  going  to  get  that  ?  How  are  we  going 
to  have  the  people  see  that  once  they  have  constituted 
government,  then  it  is  their  duty  to  be  loyal  to  that 
authority  and  to  place  at  its  disposal  absolutely  everything 
they  have?  For  in  this  time  of  war  our  duty  is  not  simply 
the  making  of  a  great  army,  but  it  is  recognizing  clearly 
the  principle  of  the  selective   draft,   that  every   man, 


78  THE   SPIRIT   OP   DEMOCRACY 

woman,  and  child  within  the  confines  of  the  United  States 
of  America  must  deliver  his  full  strength  for  the  govern- 
ment. It  is  a  question  of  putting  an  entire  nation  of  one 
hundred  million  people  under  arms.  Somehow,  some 
way,  you  and  I,  as  those  who  are  responsible  for  com- 
munities, must  see  to  it  that  our  people  get  a  deepened 
consciousness  of  their  individual  responsibility.  Now 
how  are  we  going  to  sectue  such  a  result? 

One  way  we  are  going  to  get  it  is  to  have  them  see  the 
clearness,  the  seriousness,  and  the  finality  of  the  issue 
in  which  we  are  now  engaged.  Why,  men,  it  is  absolutely 
final.  We  are  witnessing  the  death  grapple  of  two  of 
the  most  gigantic  ideas  that  have  ever  animated  con- 
flicting nations.  On  the  one  side  is  ruthlessness  and 
frightfulness  and  barbarism  and  militarism  and  autocracy, 
and  on  the  other  side  is  good  will  and  brotherhood  and 
freedom  and  equality  and  education  and  opportunity 
and  democracy. 

Is  there  any  question  as  to  where  we  ought  to  stand? 
Are  there  two  sides  to  this  issue  ?  Sometimes  a  man  has 
the  stupidity  to  say  to  me  that  he  is  not  pro-German 
but  that  he  is  against  the  war.  Before  he  can  get  his 
mouth  shut  I  say  to  him,  "You  are  pro-German,  for 
'he  that  is  not  for  us  is  against  us.'  " 

If  ever  there  was  any  truth  in  the  sayings  of  our  Master 
there  is  truth  in  this  one,  "Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon."  If  there  was  ever  a  holy  war  this  is  a  holy 
war! 

Do  you  suppose  that  we  are  in  this  war  for  conquest 
or  for  territory?  We  are  not  out  for  conquest,  or  for  the 
crushing  of  any  people,  or  with  any  false  motive,  but  we 
have  gone  into  this  war  for  just  what  President  Wilson 


HYMN   OF   FREEDOM  79 

said,  "to  make  the  world  safe  for  demoqracy."  We 
must  recognize  that  upon  the  solution  of  the  problems  of 
Central  Europe  hangs  the  fate  of  American  civilization. 

HYMN   OF  FREEDOM 

MARY  PERRY  KING 

Unfurl  the  flag  of  Freedom, 

Fling  far  the  bugle  blast ! 
There  comes  a  sound  of  marching 

From  out  the  mighty  past. 
Let  every  peak  and  valley 

Take  up  the  valiant  cry : 
Where,  beautiful  as  morning 

Our  banner  cuts  the  sky. 

Free-born  to  peace  and  justice, 

We  stand  to  guard  and  save 
The  liberty  of  manhood. 

The  faith  our  fathers  gave. 
Then  soar  aloft,  Old  Glory, 

And  tell  the  waiting  breeze 
No  law  but  Right  and  Mercy 

Shall  rule  the  Seven  Seas. 

No  hate  is  in  our  anger. 

No  vengeance  in  our  wrath, 
We  hold  the  line  of  freedom 

Across  the  tyrant's  path. 
Where'er  oppression  vaunteth 

•We  loose  the  sword  once  more 
To  stay  the  feet  of  conquest. 

And  pray  an  end  of  war. 


PATRIOTISM 

LYMAN   ABBOTT 

A  nation  is  made  great,  not  by  its  fruitful  acres,  but  by 
the  men  who  cultivate  them;  not  by  its  great  forests,  but 
by  the  men  who  use  them;  not  by  its  mines,  but  by  the 
men  who  work  in  them;  not  by  its  railways,  but  by  the 
men  who  build  and  run  them.  America  was  a  great 
land  when  Colimibus  discovered  it ;  Americans  have  made 
it  a  great  Nation. 

In  1776  our  fathers  had  a  vision  of  a  new  Nation  "con- 
ceived in  liberty  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all 
men  are  created  equal."  Without  an  army  they  fought 
the  greatest  of  existing  world  empires  that  they  might 
realize  this  vision.  A  third  of  a  century  later  without  a 
navy  they  fought  the  greatest  navy  in  the  world,  that 
they  might  win  for  their  Nation  the  freedom  of  the  seas. 
Half  a  century  later  they  fought  through  an  unparalleled 
Civil  War  that  they  might  establish  for  all  time  on  this 
continent  the  inalienable  right  of  life,  liberty,  and  the 
piirsuit  of  happiness.  A  third  of  a  century  later  they 
fought  to  emancipate  an  oppressed  neighbor,  and,  victory 
won,  gave  back  Cuba  to  the  Cubans,  sent  an  army  of 
schoolmasters  to  educate  for  liberty  the  Filipinos,  asked 
no  war  indemnity  from  their  vanquished  enemy,  but  paid 
him  liberally  for  his  property.  Meanwhile  they  offered 
land  freely  to  any  farmer  who  would  live  upon  and  culti- 
vate it,  opened  to  foreign  immigrants  on  equal  terms  the 
door  of  industrial  opportunity,  shared  with  them  political 
equality,  and  provided  by  universal  taxation  for  universal 
education. 

80 


Photo   by   BrowD    Broa. 


Lyman  Abbott 


EARTH   CALLS  TO   HEAVEN  8i 

The  cynic  who  can  see  in  this  history  only  a  theme  for 

his  egotistical  satire  is  no  true  American,  whatever  his 

parentage,  whatever  his  birthplace.     He  who  looks  with 

pride  upon  this  history  which  his  fathers  have  written 

by  their  heroic  deeds,  who  accepts  with  gratitude  the 

inheritance  which  they  have  bequeathed  to  him,  and  who 

highly  resolves  to  preserve  this  inheritance  unimpaired 

and  to  pass  it  on  to  his  descendants  enlarged  and  enriched, 

is  a  true  American,  be  his  birthplace  or  his  parentage  what 

it  may. 

— From  The  Outlook,  June,  1916 


EARTH  CALLS  TO   HEAVEN 

WILLIAM  PIERSON  MERRILL 

God,  to  Thee  Thy  earth  is  calling 
With  a  stem  and  bitter  cry. 

Hatred,  anguish,  death  appalling 
In  thick  clouds  about  us  lie. 

All  the  youth  are  fighting,  falling. 
Driven  forth  in  bands  to  die. 

Wilt  Thou  make  an  end  forever? 

Shall  the  horror  never  cease? 
Wilt  Thou  not  to  souls  imprisoned 

Speak  the  word  that  brings  release 
Shining  through  the  storm  of  sorrow 

Set  the  rainbow  of  Thy  peace? 

Yet  if  only  by  such  anguish 

Can  Thy  righteous  peace  be  won, 
Spare  us  not,  O  God  of  justice; 


82  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Finish  what  Thou  hast  begun. 
Make  us  bear  the  loss  of  all  things, 
So  Thy  holy  will  be  done. 

Let  not  all  the  wounds  be  wasted, 
Nor  these  dead  have  died  in  vain; 

By  this  war  let  war  be  smitten. 
Nevermore  to  rise  again; 

Set  above  all  kings  triiunphant 
Him  Whose  right  it  is  to  reign. 

Let  our  Babel  lie  in  fragments, 
Shattered  by  Thine  iron  rod; 

Let  a  mighty  growth  of  freedom 
Blossom  from  the  blood-soaked  sod; 

On  the  ruin  of  the  nations 

Rear  the  Commonwealth  of  God. 


— From  The  Continent 


THE   LITTLE   STAR   IN   THE  WINDOW 

JOHN  JEROME  ROONEY 

There 's  a  little  star  in  the  window  of  the  house  across  the 

way, 
A  little  star,  red-bordered,  on  a  ground  of  pearly  white; 
I  can  see  its  gleam  at  evening;  it  is  bright  at  dawn  of  day, 
And  I  know  it  has  been  shining  through  the  long  and 

dismal  night. 

The  folks  who  pass  the  window  on  the  busy  city  street, 
I  often  notice,  turn  a  glance  before  they  hurry  by, 


THE   LITTLE    STAR    IN    THE   WINDOW  83 

And  one,  a  gray  haired  woman,  made  curtsey  low  and 

sweet, 
While  something  like  a  teardrop  was  glistening  in  her  eye. 

And  yesterday  an  aged  man,  by  life's  stern  battle  spent 
His  empty  coat  sleeve  hanging  down,  a  witness  sadly 

mute, 
Gave  one  swift  look  and  halted  —  his  form  full  height, 

unbent  — 
And  ere  he  passed  his  hand  came  up  in  soldierly  salute. 

The  little  star  in  the  window  is  aflame  with  living  fire, 
For  it  was  lit  at  the  hearthstone  where  a  lonely  mother 

waits; 
And  she  has  stained  its  crimson  with  the  glow  of  her 

heart's  desire. 
And    brightened    its    pearl    white    heaven    beyond    the 

world's  dark  hates. 

The  star  shall  shine  through  the  battle  when  the  shafts 
of  death  are  hurled; 

It  shall  shine  through  the  long  night  watches  in  the  fore- 
most trenches'  line; 

Over  the  waste  of  waters  and  beyond  the  verge  of  the 
world, 

Like  the  guiding  Star  of  the  Magi  its  blessed  rays  shall 
shine. 

The  little  star  in  the  window  shall  beacon  your  boy's 

return 
As  his  eyes  are  set  to  the  homeland,  when  the  call  of  the 

guns  shall  cease; 


84  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

In  the  Flag's  high  constellation  through  the  ages  it  shall 

bum, 
A  pledge  of  his  heart's  devotion,  a  sign  of  his  people's 

peace. 


"Our  Father's  God!  from  out  whose  hand 
The  centuries  fall  like  grains  of  sand, 

H:  :i:  4:  4:  4= 

Oh,  make  Thou  us,  through  centuries  long, 
In  peace  secure,  in  justice  strong: 
Around  our  gift  of  freedom  draw 
The  safeguards  of  Thy  righteous  law: 
And,  cast  in  some  diviner  mold, 
Let  the  new  cycle  shame  the  old." 

— From  Whittier's  "Centennial  Hymn" 


THE   BATTLE   BETWEEN   RIGHT  AND 

MIGHT  1 

FRANK  O.  LOWDEN 

If  this  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  shall  go  against 
us,  every  oration  which  has  commemorated  the  efforts  and 
the  greatness  of  Washington  must  be  revised.  Instead 
of  representing  him,  the  noblest  figure,  as  someone  has 
said,  who  ever  stood  in  the  forefront  of  a  nation's  life,  we 
shall  have  to  set  him  down  as  one  of  those  idle  dreamers 
who  dreamed  of  great  things  in  vain,  and  whom  a  practical 
world  has  relegated  to  oblivion.  There  is  not  a  thing  for 
which  he  stood,  there  is  not  a  hope  which  he  ever  enter- 
tained, there  is  not  an  idea  of  government  for  which  he 
fought  during  those  years  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
that  will  not  become  obsolete  if  the  Central  Empires  win 
in  this  war  which  is  flaming  all  about  the  world. 

I  want  to  remind  you  to-day  that  we  are  going  through 
no  more  gloomy  time  than  Washington,  year  after  year, 
plodded  through.  And  I  want  also  to  remind  you  that 
Washington  —  even  Washington  —  could  he  have  had  his 
way  and  ended  the  war  as  early  as  he  desired,  would  have 
missed  the  greatest  service  that  in  the  end  he  rendered  to 
humanity  and  the  world.  He  was  not  for  the  separation 
of  the  colonies  from  the  mother  land.  He  said,  time  and 
time  again  in  the  early  months  of  the  war,  that  the  colonies 
had  no  desire  to  set  up  independence,  but  that  all  they 
wished  was  to  have  the  legal  rights  which  they  believed 
they  were  entitled  to  accorded  to  them  by  His  Majesty's 
government  in  London. 

1  From  the  speech  delivered  before  the  Union  League  Club  of 
Chicago,    February    22,    1918. 

85 


86  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Washington  hoped  that  this  bitter  war  between  daugh- 
ter and  mother  might  come  to  an  end.  And,  as  we  look 
back  now,  we  know  that  if  Lexington  and  Concord  and 
Bunker  Hill  had  been  won  overwhelmingly  by  the  Colon- 
ists, independence  would  not  have  come  to  the  United 
States ;  there  would  have  been  a  reconciliation  in  all  likeli- 
hood, and  to-day  instead  of  the  proud,  independent  posi- 
tion we  occupy  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  we  would 
have  been  but  a  dependent  of  an  empire  across  the  sea. 

Oh,  as  we  review  the  years  of  our  history,  no  one  can 
resist  the  conviction  that  there  has  been  a  divine  guidance 
in  all  the  great  crises  of  our  national  life.  It  was  necessary 
that  we  should  lose  Bunker  Hill ;  it  was  necessary  that  our 
armies  should  retreat  year  after  year  in  order  that  the 
colonists  might  be  compelled  to  declare  independence  from 
all  nations  and  to  set  up  for  themselves. 

And  when  we  come  to  the  other  great  crisis  in  our  life, 
the  same  was  true.  Lincoln  had  no  intention,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  to  abolish  slavery.  He  said, 
time  and  time  again,  that  the  South  was  entitled  imder 
the  constitution  to  the  protection  of  slavery  within  the 
States  where  it  existed.  And,  again,  if  we  had  won 
overwhelmingly  the  first  battles  of  the  Civil  War,  slavery 
would  have  remained,  and  the  great  accomplishment  of 
Lincoln's  life  would  not  have  been.  It  was  necessary 
that  our  southern  friends  should  fight,  and  fight  so  val- 
iantly that,  simply  as  a  war  measure,  we  would  be  com- 
pelled, in  order  to  survive,  to  declare  the  emancipation 
of  the  slaves. 

Again,  those  darkest  years  of  the  Civil  War,  years 
which  some  of  you  are  old  enough  to  recall,  were  not  in 
vain,  and  we  passed  through  the  darkness  and  the  shadow 


BATTLE    BETWEEN    RIGHT   AND    MIGHT  87 

in  order  that  the  high  accomplishment  of  \the  freedom  of 
four  milHon  slaves  might  come. 

And  in  this  war,  this  war  which  girdles  the  very  globe, 
there  is  some  divine  purpose  hidden  though  it  be,  that 
requires  us,  following  the  example  of  Washington  and 
Lincoln,  to  persist,  no  matter  how  dark  the  skies  may- 
be, until  a  final  and  decisive  victory,  which  shall  mean 
peace  for  ourselves  and  for  our  children  for  all  time 
to  come. 

It  is  the  final  battle,  not  only  between  the  forces  of 
autocracy  and  the  forces  of  democracy,  but  it  is  the  final 
battle  between  the  forces  of  evil  and  the  forces  of  right- 
eousness. It  is  the  final  conflict  between  justice  and 
injustice.  It  is  the  final  battle,  which  is  to  settle  whether 
men,  all  men,  whatever  their  condition  in  life,  are  entitled 
to  their  own  liberty;  whether  they  are  entitled  to  rule 
themselves ;  or  whether  the  great  masses  of  mankind  must 
toil,  toil  everlastingly,  in  order  that  a  few  thousands  may 
enjoy  the  blessings  of  the  earth. 

That  is  what  this  war  means,  and  there  is  no  spot  in  all 
the  earth  so  obscure  that  that  spot  can  escape  its  conse- 
quences. It  is  just  as  fatal  to  America  as  it  is  to  England, 
or  France  or  Italy,  if  we  lose  this  war, 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  we  might  not,  for  a  few  years, 
maintain  the  form  of  our  government;  but  its  substance 
and  its  spirit  would  be  gone;  the  freedom  which  has  been 
our  dearest  possession  all  these  years  would  have  flown. 
We  would  listen  to  what  the  Imperial  powers  of  Berlin 
might  permit  us  to  hear;  we  would  read,  as  their  own 
people  do,  the  doctrines  which  had  had  Imperial  approval. 
Our  liberties  we  might  retain  in  form  for  a  few  brief  years, 
but  that  is  all. 


88  THE  SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

The  war  is  not  three  thousand  miles  away;  the  war 
is  at  your  door  and  mine  this  very  hour.  And,  if  we 
would  preserve  as  sacred  spots  forevermore  the  tomb  of 
Washington  on  the  Potomac,  and  the  tomb  of  Lincoln  at 
Springfield;  if  we  are  unwilling  they  shall  become  the 
monuments  of  human  folly  and  failure ;  if  we  are  unwilling 
that  Washington  and  Lincoln  shall  be  known  as  fond 
dreamers  who  failed  to  make  their  dreams  come  true,  we 
shall  present  a  solidarity  of  our  people  which  will  abso- 
lutely insure  success. 

As  I  said  a  little  while  ago,  there  is  some  divine,  if 
hidden,  purpose  in  this  war.  We  may  not  see  it  now. 
Washington,  in  the  bitterness  of  his  defeat  at  Long  Island 
and  his  retreat  from  there,  could  not  see  that  there  was  a 
providence  in  that  defeat  which  helped  him  to  win  the 
independence  of  America.  Lincoln,  in  the  bitterness  of 
the  defeat  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  the  disasters 
that  followed  that  battle,  could  not  foresee  the  divine 
purpose  in  those  defeats ;  but  we  now,  in  the  light  of  later 
years,  know  that  those  defeats  were  necessary  if  slavery 
should  be  extinguished  on  this  continent. 

Thus  to-day  we  cannot  see  what  the  purpose  is  in  this 
war,  but  that  there  is  some  purpose  we  must  have  the 
faith  to  believe.  We  do  know  that  all  was  not  well  with 
us  before  the  war  came.  We  do  know  that  there  were 
great  problems  which  we  had  not  solved.  We  do  know 
that  civilization  was  not  a  complete  success,  even  in 
America,  before  this  war  came  on.  We  remember  that 
we  were  becoming  grossly  materialistic  people;  and  I 
think  a  thousand  years  from  now,  when  the  history  of  the 
nineteenth  century  is  written,  that  century  will  be  charac- 
terized   as    the    century    which    developed    materialism 


BATTLE    BETWEEN    RIGHT   AND    MIGHT  89 

more  than  anything  else.  We  became  ^  enamored  of 
the  things  which  are  seen,  of  the  things  which  we  can 
touch.  We  gloried  in  our  invention,  and  we  believed 
that  science  would  fathom  all  the  secrets  of  the  universe, 
and  that  science  was  all-sufhcient  for  human  life.  When 
the  war  broke  out,  we  found  that  this  same  science  of 
which  we  boasted  as  the  greatest  asset  of  democracy,  was 
the  greatest  resource  of  war.  It  then  seemed  to  us  as 
though  all  our  progress  of  a  century  was  simply  for  the 
purpose  of  making  war  more  terrible  and  more  deadly 
than  it  had  been  in  all  its  past.  And  we  began  to  think 
that  maybe  there  are  other  things  in  the  universe  than  the 
things  that  you  can  see  and  touch  and  hold. 

We  thought,  before  the  war,  that  discipline  was  no 
longer  of  use.  Discipline  had  broken  down  in  the  home, 
in  the  school,  in  the  State;  and  we  no  longer  believed  that 
our  citizenship  was  of  priceless  worth.  We  assumed 
that  it  was  simply  something  that  conferred  privileges 
upon  us  but  which  exacted  nothing  in  return.  And  now 
we  see,  when  nations  are  breaking  down  all  around  us, 
that  the  dearest  thing  in  all  our  possession  is  not  a  material 
thing  at  all.  We  are  getting  a  new  idea  of  what  country 
means.  We  are  having  a  revival  of  spiritual  forces. 
And  when  this  war  is  over,  we  shall  have  a  better  world 
than  we  have  had  in  the  past,  I  believe.  The  old  sense 
of  brotherhood  which  our  fathers  felt  had  disappeared. 
We  were  dividing  into  classes,  forgetting  that  the 
only  thing  in  all  the  world  that  will  make  men  brothers 
is  character  and  not  possession. 

How  fortunate  it  was  that  the  two  great  figiu-es  in  our 
national  past  were  more  distinguished  for  character  than 
they  were  for  learning.     How  fortunate  that  Washington 


90  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

and  Lincoln  attained  their  colossal  size  not  so  much  by 
their  intellectual  splendor  as  by  their  superb  character. 

And  in  a  democracy,  if  democracy  is  to  survive,  char- 
acter must  always  take  the  lead  and  direct  the  life.  We 
shall  have  a  better  world  when  this  war  is  over,  and  we 
must  have  the  faith  now  to  know  that  these  sacrifices 
of  our  gallant  boys  are  not  being  made  in  vain. 

We  shall  win  if  we  shall  only  realize  what  the  war 
means.  God  grant  that  our  hearts  and  minds  may  be 
filled  with  the  full  significance  of  this  last  great  battle 
between  the  material  forces  and  the  spiritual  forces  of 
the  universe. 

God,  who  gavest  men  eyes 

To  see  a  dream; 
God,  who  gavest  men  heart 

To  follow  the  Gleam; 
God,  who  gavest  men  stars 

To  find  heaven  by; 
God,  who  madest  men  glad 

At  need  to  die; 
Lord,  from  the  hills  again 

We  hear  thy  drum ! 
God,  who  lovest  free  men, 
God,  who  lovest  free  men, 
God,  who  lovest  free  men, 

Lead  on!    We  come. 

— From  Hermann  Hagedorn's  Ode  of  Dedication 

\ 


TO  THE  AMERICAN   PEOPLE  91 

"OVER  THERE!"        v 

HARVEY  M.  WATTS 

Some  day  we  '11  join  them  over  there  and  know 
The  haunting  secret  that  lights  up  their  face, 
Giving  their  hiimblest  act  a  touch  of  grace 
As  if  all  saw  the  vision  in  the  glow 
Of  Heaven  ajar,  as,  lo,  they  cry  "We  go 
Comrades  in  arms  of  those  who  set  the  pace. 
Ready  to  fall  if  they  but  win  the  race 
Ere  tyranny  shall  strike  the  fateful  blow."  — 
Some  day!     Ah,  yes,  the  long  way  over  there 
We  too  shall  tread  since  they  have  gladly  gone 
As  pioneers  and  paid  the  final  toll ! 
So  fear  we  not,  as  if  in  dull  despair, 
To  face  with  them  the  bright  unending  dawn. 
Lest  saving  life  we  lose  all  else,  the  soul! 

TO   THE  AMERICAN   PEOPLE 

BAYARD  TAYLOR 
That  late,  in  half -despair,  I  said: 
"The  Nation's  ancient  life  is  dead; 
Her  arm  is  weak,  her  blood  is  cold ; 
She  hugs  the  peace  that  gives  her  gold, — 
The  shameful  peace,  that  sees  expire 
Each  beacon-light  of  patriot  fire. 
And  makes  her  court  a  traitors'  den," — 
Forgive  me  this,  my  countrymen! 

O,  in  your  long  forbearance  grand, 
Slow  to  suspect  the  treason  planned. 
Enduring  wrong,  yet  hoping  good 


92  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

For  sake  of  olden  brotherhood, 
How  grander,  how  sublimer  far 
At  the  roused  Eagle's  call  ye  are, 
Leaping  from  slumber  to  the  fight. 
For  Freedom  and  for  Chartered  Right ! 

Throughout  the  land  there  goes  a  cry; 
A  sudden  splendor  fills  the  sky : 
From  every  hill  the  banners  burst, 
Like  buds  by  April  breezes  nurst ; 
In  every  hamlet,  home,  and  mart, 
The  fire-beat  of  a  single  heart 
Keeps  time  to  strains  whose  pulses  mix 
Our  blood  with  that  of  Seventy-Six ! 

Draw  forth  your  million  blades  as  one; 
Complete  the  battle  then  begun ! 
God  fights  with  ye,  and  overhead 
Floats  the  dear  banner  of  your  dead. 
They,  and  the  glories  of  the  Past, 
The  Future,  dawning  dim  and  vast, 
And  all  the  holiest  hopes  of  Man, 
Are  beaming  triumph  in  your  van ! 

Slow  to  resolve,  be  swift  to  do! 

Teach  ye  the  False  how  fight  the  True ! 

How  bucklered  Perfidy  shall  feel 

In  her  black  heart  the  Patriot's  steel; 

How  sure  the  bolt  that  Justice  wings; 

How  weak  the  arm  a  traitor  brings ; 

How  mighty  they,  who  steadfast  stand 

For  Freedom's  Flag  and  Freedom's  Land ! 


THE  EDUCATION  WE  ARE  FIGHTING  FOR^ 

HENRY  VAN  DYKE 

We  Americans  are  in  this  war  because  the  claim  that 
Germany  has  been  chosen  and  empowered  of  God  to  rule 
the  world  by  might  does  not  suit  us.  We  do  not  believe 
it.  We  are  in  this  war  because  that  claim  in  its  contemp- 
tuous "will  to  power"  has  trampled  upon  our  sovereign 
rights,  has  murdered  our  citizens  upon  the  high  seas,  and 
has  put  our  existence  as  a  free  republic  into  peril. 

Do  you  believe  that  ?  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  believe 
anything  else.  This  world  is  not  big  enough  for  the 
existence  of  a  system  of  absolute  military  autocracy  which 
claims  the  right  to  rule  the  world  by  might,  and  the 
existence  of  a  real  democracy  which  says  that  there  must 
be  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people. 

We  have  been  forced  to  fight.  But  do  not  misunder- 
stand me;  we  are  not  fighting  against  the  German  theory 
of  education  —  you  can  not  fight  against  a  theory,  a  thing 
of  air.  We  are  fighting  against  its  results,  treachery, 
violations,  invasion,  barbarism,  cruelty,  worldwide  blood- 
shed and  horror.  We  must  show,  or  help  to  show,  beside 
Great  Britain  and  France,  that  those  results  are  a  failure 
and  a  sham.  We  must  help  to  show  that  the  world  posi- 
tively can  not  be  conquered  and  dominated  in  that  way. 
We  must  go  with  France  and  Great  Britain,  Italy  and 
Belgium  to  defeat  the  German  arms  on  the  land  and  the 
German  submarines  in  the  sea;  and  when  victory  is  won, 
we  can  profitably  and  honorably   begin  a  conversation 

1  From  the  address  before  The  Convocation  of  New  York  in  1918. 

93 


94  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

on  peace,  but  not  before.  When  that  peace  arrives  — 
God  grant  it  may  be  soon! — when  that  peace  arrives,  with 
restitution,  reparation  and  guarantees  of  security  for  all 
the  peoples  who  have  suffered  from  the  madness  of  the 
Potsdam  pride,  then  perhaps  the  German  people  will 
realize  that  their  education  has  been  wrong  and  will  set 
to  work  to  change  it. 

But  I  must  confess  that  I  care  less  about  the  democ- 
ratization of  Germany,  and  the  reform  of  German  educa- 
tion, than  I  do  about  the  thing  which  must  precede  them 
—  a  real  victory  over  the  kaiser's  tools. 

Meantime,  we  Americans  cling  to  the  idea  of  education, 
which  has  made  and  sustained  us.  Learning  without 
conscience  is  a  vain  and  noxious  thing.  Its  only  result  is 
to  create  a  spectacled  barbarism.  Man  does  not  exist 
to  serve  the  state.  The  state  exists  to  protect  the  rights 
of  man.  All  governments  derive  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed.  Might  does  not  make  right, 
but  right  must  gain  might  to  survive. 

To-day  we  are  fighting  for  that  ideal  beside  our  brave 
allies.  It  is  the  ideal  of  our  hearts;  it  is  the  ideal  that  is 
in  our  education;  it  is  the  ideal  that  every  one  of  your 
public  school  teachers  to-day  is  trying  to  give  to  the 
children;  it  is  the  ideal  that  every  one  of  our  universities 
has  put  into  its  young  men,  and  its  bachelors  of  arts  and 
its  maids  of  arts,  and  its  mistresses  of  arts,  and  its  doctors 
of  philosophy  —  it  has  put  it  into  them  —  and  that  is  why, 
when  this  battle  burst  upon  the  world,  even  before  we 
were  in  it,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  oiu*  young  American 
high  school  and  college  and  university  trained  youth, 
boys  and  girls,  volunteers,  rushed  to  the  flag  of  France 
to  fight  by  her  side  and  help  her  to  win  the  victory. 


A   HYMN  95 

And  now  that  we  are  in  it,  who  are  the  best  men  in  our 
officers'  reserve  corps  and  in  our  training  camps?  They 
are  the  men  who  have  come  from  our  higher  institutions 
of  learning,  where  they  were  taught  not  to  worship  autoc- 
racy, not  to  beheve  that  might  is  right,  but  to  worship 
democracy  under  the  guidance  of  a  God  whose  right  is  the 
seal  and  sign  of  his  omnipotent  might. 

Let  us  hold  fast  to  this  faith,  to  this  ideal!  Let  The 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York  see  to  it  that  nothing 
that  is  not  democratic,  free,  liberal,  ever  comes  into  our 
education;  that  even  in  this  stress  of  war,  where  we  have 
to  train  soldiers  to  fight  for  peace,  we  do  not  become 
militaristic,  we  remain  a  democratic  nation,  a  nation  in 
which  the  state  exists  for  the  people. 

To-morrow,  when  we  have  made  that  ideal  victorious 
against  the  German  foe,  we  shall  make  it  safe  for  all  the 
world  by  a  league  of  free  nations  to  protect  peace. 

A   HYMN 

ROBERT  GRANT 

O  spirit  of  creation 

To  whom  our  fathers  prayed, 
Look  down  upon  this  nation 

Whose  sons  go  unafraid 
Across  the  mine-strewn  water 

To  grapple  with  a  foe 
That  makes  relentless  slaughter 

And  agonizes  woe. 

Protect  them,  Oh,  protect  them. 
Our  darlings  blithe  and  brave, 


96  THE   SPIRIT  OF   DEMOCRACY 

But  should  some  fate  elect  them 
To  fill  a  soldier's  grave, 

Give  us  the  grace  to  borrow 
The  gladness  they  express 

To  dignify  our  sorrow, 
Redeem  our  loneliness. 

We  thank  Thee  for  the  vision 

Enabling  us  to  see 
That  peace  which  brought  derision 

Was  ruin  to  the  free. 
At  last  oiu-  bonds  are  broken. 

At  last  the  drum  beats  roll ; 
Ay!  by  this  myriad  token 

Our  country  finds  her  soul. 

For  now  the  heathen  rages, 

And  vaunting  in  his  pride 
Would  blot  Thee  from  his  pages 

To  rule  by  fratricide. 
Oh,  give  them  might  to  slay  him 

Oh,  give  us  faith  to  win. 
And  utterly  repay  him 

With  knowledge  of  his  sin. 

Our  flag  will  wear  new  glory 

Before  our  boys  return. 
Its  crimson  stripes  be  gory, 

Its  stars  like  planets  bum ; 
And  many  will  be  sleeping 

Upon  a  foreign  shore, 
Yet  still  within  Thy  keeping, 

Jehovah,  God  of  War! 


THE   RETURN  97 

THE   RETURN  ^ 

JOHN  FREEMAN 

I  heard  the  rumbling  guns.     I  saw  the  smoke, 
The  unintelHgible  shock  of  hosts  that  still, 

Far  off,  unseeing,  strove  and  strove  again; 
And  beauty  flying  naked  down  the  hill. 

From  mom  to  eve:  and  the  stem  night  cried  Peace! 

And  shut  the  strife  in  darkness:  all  was  still, 
Then  slowly  crept  a  triumph  on  the  dark  — 

And  I  heard  Beauty  singing  up  the  hill, 

— From  The  Westminster  Gazette 


8 


FIGHTING  BATTLES  WITH  SPEECH  AND  PEN^ 

CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES 

It  is  difficult  to  draw  nice  distinctions  in  time  of  war. 
But  there  are  some  distinctions  which  must  be  drawn. 
The  effective  prosecution  of  war  involves  of  necessity  cer- 
tain restrictions  in  our  accustomed  freedom.  With 
respect  to  property  and  business,  with  respect  to  life  itself, 
freedom  is  restrained.  Witness  our  War  Defense  and 
Conscription  Acts,  our  broad  plans  of  regulation  by  which 
manifold  activities  are  controlled  to  an  unusual  degree. 
Of  course,  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  is  also  a 
relative  freedom.  There  is  no  license  to  destroy  the 
Nation  or  to  turn  it  over  helpless  to  its  foes.  There  is  no 
constitutional  privilege  for  disloyalty,  or  for  efforts  to 
obstruct  the  enforcement  of  the  law  or  to  interfere  with 
the  war  plans  adopted  by  authority.  But  with  due 
recognition  of  the  difficulty  of  exact  definition  and  close 
distinction,  it  is  quite  obvious  that  there  is  a  field  for 
honest  criticism  which  cannot  be  surrendered  without 
imperiling  the  essentials  of  liberty  and  the  preservation  of 
the  Nation  itself.  Our  officers  of  Government  are  not  a 
privileged  class.  Even  when  equipped  with  the  extraor- 
dinary powers  of  war,  they  are  the  servants  of  the  Nation 
accountable  for  the  exercise  of  their  authority. 

When  we  are  in  the  throes  of  war,  united  in  the  deter- 
mination to  win,  and  conscious  that  we  can  win  only  by 
united  effort,  there  is  no  place  for  partisanship  with  respect 

1  From  the  speech  delivered  at  the  dinner  of  the  American  Newspaper 
PubHshers  Association  in  New  York,  April  25,  1918. 

98 


FIGHTING   BATTLES  WITH  SPEECH  AND  PEN       99 

to  the  conduct  of  the  war.  In  the  phrase  of  Lincoln,  we 
must  meet  "upon  a  level  one  step  higher  than  any  party 
platform"  because  from  such  more  elevated  position  we 
can  "do  better  battle  for  the  country  we  love  than  we 
possibly  can  from  those  lower  ones  where  from  the  force 
of  habit,  the  prejudices  of  the  past  and  selfish  hopes  of  the 
future,  we  are  sure  to  expend  much  of  our  ingenuity  and 
strength  in  finding  fault  with  and  aiming  blows  at  each 
other."  I  stand  on  that  platform  supporting  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  But  that  is  a  counsel  not  for 
Republicans  alone  but  for  Democrats  as  well  —  for  those 
in  office  as  well  as  for  those  out  of  office.  We  may  reserve 
our  partisan  differences  for  other  matters  than  the  war 
— for  policies  aside  from  the  conduct  of  the  war.  In  this 
great  crisis  we  bend  our  common  strength  to  fight  our 
common  battle  and  we  speak  not  as  Democrats  or  as 
Republicans,  but  as  citizens  whose  only  rivalry  is  in  their 
zeal  to  win. 

Of  course,  it  is  just  as  easy  to  be  a  partisan  in  assailing 
criticism  as  in  criticism  itself.  The  man  who  defends 
everything  that  is  done  by  his  party  or  his  party  leaders 
is  just  as  partisan  as  the  man  who  assails  everything  that 
the  opposing  party  does  or  plans.  War  demands  fighting 
men  who  see  straight  and  shoot  straight.  It  also  demands 
fighting  critics  who  see  straight  and  are  honest  and  candid 
in  criticism.  It  is  a  commonplace  that  a  public  officer 
learns  more  from  his  critics  than  he  does  from  his  admirers. 
He  seldom  learns  from  anyone  but  his  critics.  If  we  had 
to  choose  between  partisanship  with  criticism  and  the 
absence  of  both  partisanship  and  criticism,  I  should 
unhesitatingly  choose  the  former,  for  while  the  venomous 
shafts  of  partisan  malice  seldom  hit  the  mark,  the  country 


loo  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

cannot  afford  to  turn  its  destiny  over  to  anyone  who  is 
guaranteed  immunity  from  candid  criticism. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  country  should  have  the 
facts.  Plainly,  there  are  matters  which  for  military 
reasons  must  be  concealed  so  as  not  to  aid  the  enemy. 
But  any  one  who  conceals  facts  even  in  war  time  has 
a  heavy  burden  of  proof  as  to  the  necessity  for  such 
concealment. 

Furnishing  material  for  criticism  is  by  no  means  the 
same  thing  as  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy. 
Let  the  truth  be  known.  The  anxiety  should  be  not  to 
avoid  disclosiu-e  but  rather  to  prevent  error.  Rarely 
will  the  enemy  be  the  gainer  from  our  knowledge  of 
the  facts.  He  will  thrive  on  our  apprehensions  and 
our  misconceptions. 

The  world  will  never  be  made  safe  for  democracy,  in 
the  last  analysis,  by  anything  short  of  a  dominant  sense 
of  fairness  and  justice.  A  contemptible  purveyor  of 
slander,  of  malicious  abuse  of  officers,  of  half-truths  calcu- 
lated to  deceive,  of  demagogical  appeal  in  order  to  win 
affluence,  influence  and  political  power  by  preying  upon 
ignorance  and  natural  aspirations — that  is  the  liirking 
enemy  of  our  institutions  which  it  is  harder  to  defeat  than 
even  a  Prussian  autocrat.  The  extent  of  the  impotency 
of  this  lurking  enemy  is  the  measure  of  our  ultimate 
victory. 

This  is  a  time  of  rare  privilege  for  the  men  who  can  go 
abroad  to  fight.  It  is  also  a  time  of  rare  privilege  for 
those  who  stay  at  home  to  fight  battles  of  speech  and  pen. 
Our  trust  is  in  both  pen  and  sword — the  pen  to  support 
the  sword — the  sword  to  make  way  for  new  victories  of 
the  pen.     In  the  present  situation,  with  Germany  using 


FIGHTING  BATTLES  WITH  SPEECH  AND  PEN     loi 

up  its  man-power  with  the  mad  recklessness  of  despera- 
tion, we  have  a  peculiar  responsibility.  Our  Allies  are 
holding  the  Western  line  with  grim  determination. 
They  have  held  this  line  —  our  line  —  Liberty's  line,  the 
line  of  a  world  of  freedom,  of  law,  of  decency,  the  line  of 
all  that  is  left  of  civilization  as  opposed  to  cynical  force, 
to  unparalleled  brutality,  to  fiendish  perversion  of  science, 
to  the  disregard  of  everything  sacred  and  htmiane — our 
Allies  are  holding  this  line  awaiting  our  arrival.  They 
have  been  holding  a  bloody  vigil.  They  have  more  dead 
in  France  than  we  shall  have  there  living  in  arms  for 
many  months  to  come.  But  we  are  coming.  Our  forces 
are  growing  daily.  We  are  not  living  in  retrospect. 
Our  faces  are  toward  France  and  the  futtue.  If  there 
was  ever  any  doubt  as  to  duty  or  opportunity  there  is 
certainly  none  now.  Germany's  only  hope  is  that  we 
shall  falter,  but  we  will  not  falter. 

Let  there  be  no  thought  that  a  great  army  will  not  be 
needed.  The  way  to  strike  terror  to  the  German  heart, 
to  make  it  realize  the  inevitableness  of  defeat,  is  for  the 
United  States  to  rush  its  preparations  on  a  scale  adequate 
to  victory.  Let  us  have  a  comprehensive  industrial  plan 
to  insure  needed  direction  of  industrial  effort,  for  we  can- 
not otherwise  provide  the  fighting  men. 

It  is  not  the  measure  of  our  high  calling  to  gather  a 
force  merely  to  hold  a  line  of  trenches.  A  peace  with 
the  German  Army  on  the  soil  of  France,  with  Germany 
temporarily  exhausted  but  not  beaten,  cannot  be  lasting. 
A  peace  with  Germany,  leaving  the  German  Empire 
through  ill-gotten  gains  stronger  relatively  than  when  it 
entered  the  war,  with  a  national  consciousness  that  its 
policy  of  brutality,  of  disregard  of  treaties,  of  vast  military 


102  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

preparation,  has  won  a  larger  international  opportu- 
nity, would  be  nothing  but  a  German  peace,  whatever 
concessions  might  be  made  in  the  West.  It  is  for  America, 
by  supplying  an  adequate  ntunber  of  fighting  men,  to 
make  the  victory  decisive ;  to  see  that  there  is  no  faltering 
until  this  great  duty  to  humanity  is  fully  performed  and 
the  banner  of  a  new  international  order,  secure  in  the 
common  sense  of  justice,  waves  over  a  world  untroubled 
by  insane  dreams  of  arbitrary  power. 

GIVE  US   MEN! 

THE  BISHOP  OF  EXETER 

Give  us  men! 
Men  from  every  rank, 
Fresh  and  free  and  frank ; 
Men  of  thought  and  reading, 
Men  of  light  and  leading, 
Men  of  loyal  breeding, 
The  Nation's  welfare  speeding; 
Men  of  faith  and  not  of  faction 
Men  of  lofty  aim  and  action : 
Give  us  men — I  say  again. 

Give  us  men ! 

Give  us  men ! 
Strong  and  stalwart  ones; 
Men  whom  highest  hope  inspires, 
Men  whom  purest  honor  fires. 
Men  who  trample  self  beneath  them. 
Men  who  make  their  country  wreathe  them 
As  her  noble  sons, 


BE  STRONG  103 

Worthy  of  their  sires;  \ 

Men  who  never  shame  their  mothers, 
Men  who  never  fail  their  brothers, 
True,  however  false  are  others; 
Give  us  men — I  say  again. 
Give  us  men ! 

BE   STRONG 

MALTBIE  DAVENPORT  BABCOCK 
Be  strong! 

We  are  not  here  to  play,  to  dream,  to  drift. 
We  have  hard  work  to  do,  and  loads  to  lift. 
Shun  not  the  struggle;  face  it,     'T  is  God's  gift. 

Be  strong ! 

Say  not  the  days  are  evil, — who's  to  blame? — 
And  fold  the  hands  and  acquiesce  —  0  shame ! 
Stand  up,  speak  out,  and  bravely,  in  God's  name. 

Be  strong ! 

It  matters  not  how  deep  entrenched  the  wrong, 
How  hard  the  battle  goes,  the  days  how  long. 
Faint  not,  fight  on !     To-morrow  brings  the  song. 


THE   MEN   AT  THE   FRONT 

DAVID   LLOYD    GEORGE 

It  is  incredible  the  devotion,  the  valor,  and  the  endur- 
ance of  these  gallant  men  at  the  front.  They  have  given 
courage  a  new  meaning;  they  have  given  it  a  new  standard, 
a  new  rating.  It  means  something  different,  something 
more  than  it  ever  meant  before.  We  knew  that  amongst 
us  we  had  a  man  here  and  a  man  there  who  had  a  heart  of 
gold,  and  was  capable  of  daring  and  enterprise,  who  had 
valor  firing  his  soul;  but  that  we  had  thousands,  nay 
myriads  of  them,  spread  all  over  the  land,  in  the  highest 
and  in  the  humblest  homes — that  is  the  revelation  of  this 
war — a  treasure,  an  inexhaustible  treasure,  hidden  in  the 
heart  of  the  himiblest  man,  of  patriotism,  consecration, 
courage,  devotion,  exalted  attachment  to  ideals,  and 
readiness  of  sacrifice  for  a  great  purpose.  We  had  thought 
these  qualities  were  qualities  of  the  select,  but  they  are 
all  great,  they  are  all  select.  It  is  a  nation  of  heroes.  If 
we  can  do  such  things  in  war  we  can  also  do  them  in  peace. 
Peace  has  its  sacrifices;  peace  demands  valor;  peace  de- 
mands devotion;  and  it  will  be  an  unutterable  insanity  if 
the  lesson  which  this  war  has  taught  us  of  the  possibilities 
of  our  people  in  unity,  in  sacrifice  for  a  common  end,  in 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  a  common  humanity  and  of  our 
common  country,  should  be  lost  when  the  flag  has  been 
brought  back  triumphant  from  the  field  of  battle  and 
planted  on  the  field  of  labor  and  of  toil. 

104 


THE   CONNAUGHT   RANGERS  105 

THE   CONNAUGHT  RANGERS 

WINIFRED    M.   LETTS 

I  saw  the  Connaught  Rangers  when  they  were  passing  by, 
On  a  spring  day,  a  good  day,  with  gold  rifts  in  the  sky. 
Themselves  were  marching  steadily  along  the  Liffey  quay 
An'  I  see  the  young  proud  look  of  them  as  if  it  was 

to-day ! 
The  bright   lads,   the  right   lads,   I  have  them  in  my 

mind, 
With  the  green  flags  on  their  bayonets  all  fluttering  in 

the  wind ! 

A  last  look  at  old  Ireland,  a  last  good-bye  maybe. 
Then  the  gray  sea,  the  wide  sea,  my  grief  upon  the  sea ! 
And  when  will  they  come  home,  says  I,  when  will  they  see 

once  more 
The  dear  blue  hills  of  Wicklow  and  Wexford's  dim  gray 

shore  ? 
The  brave  lads  of  Ireland,  no  better  lads  you'll  find 
With  the  green  flags  on  their  bayonets  all  fluttering  in 

the  wind ! 

Three  years  have  passed  since  that  spring  day,  sad  years 

for  them  and  me. 
Green  graves  there  are  in  Serbia  and  in  Gallipoli, 
And  many  who  went  by  that  day  along  the  muddy  street 
Will  never  hear  the  roadway  ring  to  their  triumphant  feet. 
But  when  they  march  before  him,  God's  welcome  will  be 

kind. 
And  the  green  flags  on  their  bayonets  will  flutter  in  the 

wind. 


io6  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

"BADDEST  BOY" 

People  said;  yes,  people  said 

That  the  baddest  boy  in  town 
Was  a  kid,  a  freckled  kid, 

By  the  name  of  Willie  Brown. 
He  disappeared;  people  sneered. 

And  guessed  it,  with  a  frown — 
"Gone  to  enlist — he  won't  be  missed- 

Why,  he 's  the  baddest  boy  in  town ! 

Baddest  boy! 
I  saw  him  marching — 
Marching 

Down  the  avenue ! 
With  a  step  so  free  and  easy. 
And  his  eyes  so  bright  and  blue ! 

Baddest  boy! 
Some  one  was  watching — 
Watching 

Willie  Brown! 
And  I  knew  that  she  was  praying  for 
The  baddest  boy  in  town ! 

People  say  the  other  day 

Came  a  message  to  our  town. 
They  read  it  out — it  was  about 

Private  William  Brown. 
The  message  said  that  he  was  dead — 

In  action  he  went  down. 
And  people  say  he  saved  the  day — 

Thebaddest  boy  in  town ! 


"BADDEST   BOY"  107 

Baddest  boy!  ^ 

I  saw  him  marching — 
Marching 

Down  the  avenue ! 
Behind  the  colors  of  his  regiment 
And  the  old  red,  white  and  blue! 

Baddest  boy! 
Some  one  was  watching — 
Watching 

Willie  Brown! 
And  I  know  that  she  '11  be  mourning  for 
The  baddest  boy  in  town ! 


FLAG-DAY  ADDRESS^ 

WOODROW   WILSON 
My  Fellow-citizens: 

We  meet  to  celebrate  Flag  Day  because  this  flag  which 
we  honor  and  under  which  we  serve  is  the  emblem  of  our 
unity,  our  power,  our  thought  and  purpose  as  a  nation. 
It  has  no  other  character  than  that  which  we  give  it  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  choices  are  ours.  It 
floats  in  majestic  silence  above  the  hosts  that  execute 
those  choices,  whether  in  peace  or  in  war.  And  yet, 
though  silent,  it  speaks  to  us — speaks  to  us  of  the  past,  of 
the  men  and  women  who  went  before  us  and  of  the  records 
they  wrote  upon  it.  We  celebrate  the  day  of  its  birth; 
and  from  its  birth  until  now  it  has  witnessed  a  great  his- 
tory, has  floated  on  high  the  symbol  of  great  events,  of  a 
great  plan  of  life  worked  out  by  a  great  people.  We  are 
about  to  carry  it  into  battle,  to  lift  it  where  it  will  draw 
the  fire  of  our  enemies.  We  are  about  to  bid  thousands, 
hundreds  of  thousands,  it  may  be  millions,  of  our  men — 
the  young,  the  strong,  the  capable  men  of  the  nation — 
to  go  forth  and  die  beneath  it  on  fields  of  blood  far  away — 
for  what?  For  some  unaccustomed  thing?  For  some- 
thing for  which  it  has  never  sought  the  fire  before? 
American  armies  were  never  before  sent  across  the  seas. 
Why  are  they  sent  now?  For  some  new  purpose  for 
which  this  great  flag  has  never  been  carried  before,  or  for 
some  old,  familiar,  heroic  purpose  for  which  it  has  seen 
men,  its  own  men,  die  on  every  battlefield  upon  which 
Americans  have  borne  arms  since  the  Revolution? 


1  From  a  speech  delivered  June  14,  191 7. 

108 


FLAG-DAY   ADDRESS  109 

These  are  questions  which  must  be  ansWered.  We  are 
Americans.  We  in  our  turn  serve  America,  and  can  serve 
her  with  no  private  purpose.  We  must  use  her  flag  as 
she  has  always  used  it.  We  are  accountable  at  the  bar 
of  history  and  must  plead  in  utter  frankness  what  purpose 
it  is  we  seek  to  serve. 

It  is  plain  enough  how  we  were  forced  into  the  war. 
The  extraordinary  insults  and  aggressions  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government  left  us  no  self-respecting  choice  but 
to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  our  rights  as  a  free  people 
and  of  our  honor  as  a  sovereign  Government.  The  mili- 
tary masters  of  Germany  denied  us  the  right  to  be  neutral. 
They  filled  our  unsuspecting  communities  with  vicious 
spies  and  conspirators  and  sought  to  corrupt  the  opinion 
of  our  people  in  their  own  behalf.  When  they  found  that 
they  could  not  do  that,  their  agents  diligently  spread  sedi- 
tion amongst  us  and  sought  to  draw  our  own  citizens  from 
their  allegiance;  and  some  of  those  agents  were  men 
connected  with  the  official  embassy  of  the  German  Gov- 
ernment itself  here  in  our  own  capital. 

They  sought  by  violence  to  destroy  our  industries  and 
arrest  our  commerce.  They  tried  to  incite  Mexico  to 
take  up  arms  against  us  and  to  draw  Japan  into  a  hostile 
alliance  with  her;  and  that,  not  by  indirection,  but  by 
direct  suggestion  from  the  foreign  office  in  Berlin.  They 
impudently  denied  us  the  use  of  the  high  seas  and  repeat- 
edly executed  their  threat  that  they  would  send  to  their 
death  any  of  our  people  who  ventured  to  approach  the 
coasts  of  Europe. 

But  that  is  only  part  of  the  story.  We  know  now  as 
clearly  as  we  knew  before  we  were  ourselves  engaged  that 
we  are  not  the  enemies  of  the  German  people  and  that 


no  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

they  are  not  our  enemies.  They  did  not  originate  or 
desire  this  hideous  war  or  wish  that  we  should  be  drawn 
into  it ;  and  we  are  vaguely  conscious  that  we  are  fighting 
their  cause,  as  they  will  some  day  see  it,  as  well  as  our 
own. 

They  are  themselves  in  the  grip  of  the  same  sinister 
power  that  has  now  at  last  stretched  its  ugly  talons  out 
and  drawn  blood  from  us.  The  whole  world  is  at  war 
because  the  whole  world  is  in  the  grip  of  that  power  and 
is  trying  out  the  great  battle  which  shall  determine 
whether  it  is  to  be  brought  under  its  mastery  or  fling 
itself  free. 

For  us  there  is  but  one  choice.  We  have  made  it. 
Woe  be  to  the  man  or  group  of  men  that  seeks  to  stand  in 
our  way  in  this  day  of  high  resolution,  when  every  prin- 
ciple we  hold  dearest  is  to  be  vindicated  and  made  secure 
for  the  salvation  of  the  nations.  We  are  ready  to  plead 
at  the  bar  of  history,  and  our  flag  shall  wear  a  new  luster. 
Once  more  we  shall  make  good  with  our  lives  and  fortunes 
the  great  faith  to  which  we  were  born,  and  a  new  glory 
shall  shine  in  the  face  of  our  people. 

THE   STAR-SPANGLED   BANNER 

FRANCIS   SCOTT   KEY 

Oh,  say,  can  you  see,  by  the  dawn's  early  light. 

What  so  proudly  we  hail'd  at  the  twilight's  last  gleam- 
ing, 
Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars,  thro'  the  perilous 
fight, 
O'er  the  ramparts  we  watch'd,  were  so  gallantly  stream- 
ing? 


THE   STAR-SPANGLED   BANNER  in 

And  the  rocket's  red  glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air, 
Gave  proof  thro'  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there. 
Oh,  say,  does  that  star-spangled  banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave? 

On  the  shore  dimly  seen  through  the  mist  of  the  deep. 
Where  the  foe's  haughty  host  in  dread  silence  reposes. 

What  is  that  which  the  breeze,  o'er  the  towering  steep. 
As  it  fitfully  blows,  half  conceals,  half  discloses? 

Now  it  catches  the  gleam  of  the  morning's  first  beam, 

In  full  glory  reflected,  now  shines  on  the  stream: 

'T  is  the  star-spangled  banner!  oh,  long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave! 

And  where  is  that  band  who  so  vauntingly  swore. 
That  the  havoc  of  war  and  the  battle's  confusion, 

A  home  and  a  country  should  leave  us  no  more? 

Their    blood    has    washed    out    their    foul    footsteps' 
pollution. 

No  refuge  could  save  the  hireling  and  slave 

From  the  terror  of  flight  or  the  gloom  of  the  grave : 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  doth  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 

Oh,  thus  be  it  ever  when  freemen  shall  stand 

Between  their  loved  homes  and  wild  war's  desolation; 

Blest  with  victory  and  peace,  may  the  heaven-rescued 
land 
Praise  the  Power  that  hath  made  and  preserved  us  a 
nation ! 

Then  conquer  we  must,  when  our  cause  it  is  just. 

And  this  be  our  motto:     "In  God  is  our  trust." 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 


112  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 


54 


MAKERS  OF  THE   FLAG 

FRANKLIN   K.    LANE 

This  morning,  as  I  passed  into  the  Land  Office,  The 
Flag  dropped  me  a  most  cordial  salutation,  and  from  its 
rippling  folds  I  heard  it  say:  "Good  morning,  Mr.  Flag 
Maker." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Old  Glory,"  I  said,  "aren't  you 
mistaken?  I  am  not  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
nor  a  member  of  Congress,  nor  even  a  general  in  the  army. 
I  am  only  a  Government  clerk." 

"I  greet  you  again,  Mr.  Flag  Maker,"  replied  the  gay 
voice.  "  I  know  you  well.  You  are  the  man  who  worked 
in  the  swelter  of  yesterday  straightening  out  the  tangle  of 
that  farmer's  homestead  in  Idaho,  or  perhaps  you  found 
the  mistake  in  that  Indian  contract  in  Oklahoma,  or 
helped  to  clear  that  patent  for  the  hopeful  inventor  in 
New  York,  or  pushed  the  opening  of  that  new  ditch  in 
Colorado,  or  made  that  mine  in  Illinois  more  safe,  or 
brought  relief  to  the  old  soldier  in  Wyoming.  No  matter; 
whichever  one  of  these  beneficent  individuals  you  may 
happen  to  be,  I  give  you  greeting,  Mr.  Flag  Maker." 

I  was  about  to  pass  on,  when  The  Flag  stopped  me  with 
these  words: 

"Yesterday  the  President  spoke  a  word  that  made 
happier  the  futtu"e  of  ten  million  peons  in  Mexico;  but 
that  act  looms  no  larger  on  the  flag  than  the  struggle  which 
the  boy  in  Georgia  is  making  to  win  the  Corn  Club  prize 
this  summer. 

"Yesterday  the  Congress  spoke  a  word  which  will  open 
the  door  of  Alaska;  but  a  mother  in  Michigan  worked 
from  sunrise  until  far  into  the  night,  to  give  her  boy  an 
education.     She,  too,  is  making  the  flag. 


Copyright   by   Clinedinst 


Franklin  K.  Lane 


MAKERS   OF   THE    FLAG  113 

"Yesterday  we  made  a  new  law  to  prevent  financial 
panics,  and  yesterday,  maybe,  a  school  teacher  in  Ohio 
taught  his  first  letters  to  a  boy  who  will  one  day  write  a 
song  that  will  give  cheer  to  the  millions  of  our  race.  We 
are  all  making  the  flag." 

"But,"  I  said  impatiently,  "these  people  were  only 
working ! ' ' 

Then  came  a  great  shout  from  The  Flag: 

"The  work  that  we  do  is  the  making  of  the  flag. 

"I  am  not  the  flag;  not  at  all.     I  am  but  its  shadow. 

"I  am  whatever  you  make  me,  nothing  more. 

"I  am  your  belief  in  yourself,  your  dream  of  what  a 
People  may  become. 

"I  live  a  changing  life,  a  life  of  moods  and  passions,  of 
heartbreaks  and  tired  muscles. 

"Sometimes  I  am  strong  with  pride,  when  men  do  an 
honest  work,  fitting  the  rails  together  truly. 

"Sometimes  I  droop,  for  then  purpose  has  gone  from 
me,  and  cynically  I  play  the  coward. 

"Sometimes  I  am  loud,  garish,  and  full  of  that  ego  that 
blasts  judgment. 

"But  always,  I  am  all  that  you  hope  to  be,  and  have 
the  courage  to  try  for. 

"I  am  song  and  fear,  struggle  and  panic,  and  ennobling 
hope. 

"I  am  the  day's  work  of  the  weakest  man,  and  the 
largest  dream  of  the  most  daring. 

"  I  am  the  Constitution  and  the  courts,  statutes  and  the 
statute  makers,  soldier  and  dreadnaught,  drayman  and 
street  sweep,  cook,  counselor,  and  clerk. 

"I  am  the  battle  of  yesterday,  and  the  mistake  of  to- 
morrow. 


114  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

"  I  am  the  mystery  of  the  men  who  do  without  knowing 
why. 

"I  am  the  clutch  of  an  idea,  and  the  reasoned  purpose 
of  resolution. 

"I  am  no  more  than  what  you  believe  me  to  be  and  I 
am  all  that  you  believe  I  can  be. 

"  I  am  what  you  make  me,  nothing  more. 

"I  swing  before  your  eyes  as  a  bright  gleam  of  color,  a 
symbol  of  yourself,  the  pictured  suggestion  of  that  big 
thing  which  makes  this  nation.  My  stars  and  my  stripes 
are  your  dream  and  your  labors.  They  are  bright  with 
cheer,  brilliant  with  courage,  firm  with  faith,  because  you 
have  made  them  so  out  of  your  hearts.  For  you  are  the 
makers  of  the  flag  and  it  is  well  that  you  glory  in  the 
making." 

THE    FLAG 

EDITH    M.   THOMAS 

I  walked  at  noon  down  Broadway, 

And  east  I  turned  at  Wall, 
Crossed  Nassau  Street  and  William  — 

Old  Glory  over  all !  — 
Did  you  not  do  the  same  to-day  — 
And  brush  the  sudden  tear  awayf 

The  hanging  gardens — how  they  bloom 

Far  up  the  builded  canyon's  gloom! 

There  never  was  before  a  spring 

Of  such  a  wondrous  blossoming 

To  make  the  eye  and  heart  adore !   .    .    . 

How  beautiful,  how  beautiful  — 
How  beautiful  I  never  knew  before ! 


FOLLOW   THE   FLAG  115 


\ 


The  hanging  gardens  — Oh,  how  brave 
When  on  the  lifting  wind  they  wave ! 
Nor  flaw  nor  frost  can  work  them  wrong, 
Perennial  is  the  stock,  and  strong  — 
In  hardihood  't  was  sown  of  yore !   .    .    . 

How  beautiful,  how  beautiful  — 
How  beautiful  I  never  knew  before ! 

The  hanging  gardens  —  colors  three 

Are  all  the  raptured  eye  can  see. 

No  flower  exotic  here  has  place. 

But  all  are  sprung  of  native  race  — 

The  red,  the  white,  the  blue  —  not  more   .    .    . 

How  beautiful,  how  beautiful  — 
How  beautiful  I  never  knew  before ! 

The  hanging  gardens  —  and  how  far 

May  crimson  band  and  candid  star 

A  looming  throw  in  other  skies 

O'er  lands  where  kindred  blooms  shall  rise 

From  broadcast  seed  that  Freedom  bore   .    .    . 

How  beautiful,  how  beautiful  — 
How  beautiful  I  never  knew  before ! 

FOLLOW   THE   FLAG 

THEODORE    MARBURG 
Follow  the  flag! 

By  every  fireside  where  live  the  love  of  country  and  the 
love  of  justice  is  heard  a  sigh  of  relief  that  our  flag  is  not, 
after  all,  to  be  trampled  in  the  mire.  Now  that  it  has  been 
raised  aloft,  follow  it.     Follow  it  even  to  the  battle  front. 


ii6  THE    SPIRIT   OF    DEMOCRACY 

Follow  the  flag! 

It  goes  on  a  high  mission.  The  land  over  which  it  flies 
inherited  its  spirit  of  freedom  from  a  race  which  had  prac- 
ticed Hberty  for  a  thousand  years.  And  the  daughter 
paid  back  the  debt  to  the  mother.  Her  successful  practice 
of  free  institutions  caused  the  civic  stature  of  the  citizen 
in  the  mother-land  to  grow.  It  lit  the  torch  of  liberty  in 
France.  Then,  moving  abreast,  these  three  lands  of 
democracy  imparted  to  it  impetus  so  resistless  that  free- 
dom is  sweeping  victorious  around  the  globe.  To-day 
constitutional  government  is  the  rule,  not  the  exception, 
in  the  world.  Once  more  these  three  nations  are  together 
leading  a  great  cause  and  this  time  as  brothers  in  arms. 

Follow  the  flag! 

It  goes  on  a  world  mission.  If  the  high  hope  of  our 
President  is  fulfilled,  that  flag  will  have  new  meaning. 
Just  as  the  stars  and  stripes  in  it  symbolized  the  union  of 
free  states  in  America,  so  now  they  may  come  to  symbolize 
the  beginnings  of  a  union  of  nations,  self-governing,  and, 
because  they  are  self-governing,  making  for  good  will  and 
for  justice. 

Follow  the  flag! 

It  goes  on  a  stern  mission.  Follow  it,  not  for  revenge, 
yet  in  anger — righteous  anger  against  the  bloody  crew 
who,  with  criminal  intent,  have  brought  upon  the  world 
the  greatest  sum  of  hiiman  misery  it  has  ever  known  in 
all  its  history.  Follow  it  till  that  ugly  company  is  put 
down  and  the  very  people  themselves  whom  they  have  so 
grievously  deceived  and  misled,  by  coming  into  liberty, 
will  come  to  bless  that  flag  and  kiss  its  gleaming  folds. 


THE   KID    HAS   GONE   TO   THE   COLORS  117 

Follow  the  flag!  ^ 

Too  long  it  has  been  absent  from  that  Hne  in  France 
where  once  again  an  Attila  has  been  stopped.  It  has 
been  needed  there,  God  knows!  And  yet,  though  not 
visible  to  the  eye,  it  is  and  has  been  there  from  the  begin- 
ning. It  is  there  in  the  hearts  of  those  fifty  thousand 
American  boys  v/ho  saw  their  duty  clear  and  moved 
up  to  it.  Now  at  last  it  may  be  flung  to  the  breeze  in 
the  front  line,  to  be  visible  by  day,  and  to  remain  at 
nightfall,  like  the  blessings  of  a  prayer  fulfilled,  in  the 
consciousness  of  men.  Follow  it  and  take  your  stand 
beside  the  fifty  thousand. 

Follow  the  flag! 


THE   KID   HAS   GONE   TO   THE   COLORS 

W.   M.   HERSCHELL 

The  Kid  has  gone  to  the  Colors 
And  we  don't  know  what  to  say; 
The  Kid  we  have  loved  and  cuddled 
Stepped  out  for  the  Flag  to-day. 
We  thought  him  a  child,  a  baby, 
With  never  a  care  at  all, 
But  his  country  called  him  man-size. 
And  the  Kid  has  heard  the  call. 

He  paused  to  watch  the  recruiting. 

Where,  fired  by  the  fife  and  drum, 

He  bowed  his  head  to  Old  Glory 

And  thought  that  it  whispered:  "Come!" 


Ii8  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

The  Kid,  not  being  a  slacker, 
Stood  forth  with  patriot-joy 
To  add  his  name  to  the  roster — 
And  God,  we're  proud  of  the  boy! 

The  Kid  has  gone  to  the  Colors; 
It  seems  but  a  little  while 
Since  he  drilled  a  school  boy  army 
In  a  truly  martial  style. 
But  now  he's  a  man,  a  soldier. 
And  we  lend  him  listening  ear, 
For  his  heart  is  a  heart  all  loyal, 
Unscourged  by  the  curse  of  fear. 

His  dad,  when  he  told  him,  shuddered; 
His  mother — God  bless  her ! — cried ; 
Yet,  blest  with  a  mother-nature. 
She  wept  with  a  mother-pride. 
But  he  whose  old  shoulders  straightened 
Was  Granddad — for  memory  ran 
To  years  when  he,  too,  a  youngster, 
Was  changed  by  the  Flag  to  a  man ! 


PUTTING  THE  FLAG  ON  THE  FIRING  LINE  i 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

I  come  here  tonight  to  appeal  to  the  people  of  the  great 
west,  the  people  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  the  people  who 
are  the  spiritual  heirs  of  the  men  who  stood  behind 
Lincoln  and  Grant. 

You  men  and  women  who  live  beside  the  Great  Lakes 
and  on  the  lands  drained  by  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  Missouri  have  always  represented  what  is  most 
intensely  American  in  our  national  life.  When  once 
waked  up  to  actual  conditions  you  have  always  stood  with 
unfaltering  courage  and  iron  endurance  for  the  national 
honor  and  the  national  interest. 

I  appeal  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  men  and 
women  of  the  Civil  War,  to  the  grandsons  and  grand- 
daughters of  the  pioneers ;  I  appeal  to  the  women  as  much 
as  to  the  men,  for  our  nation  has  risen  level  to  every  great 
crisis  only  because  in  every  such  crisis  the  courage  of  its 
women  flamed  as  high  as  the  courage  of  the  men. 

I  appeal  to  you  to  take  the  lead  in  making  good  the 
President's  message,  in  which  he  set  forth  the  reasons 
why  it  was  our  unescapable  duty  to  make  war  upon 
Germany.  It  rests  with  us  — with  the  American  people 
—  to  make  that  message  one  of  the  great  state  documents 
of  our  history. 

Then  let  us  steel  our  hearts  and  gird  our  loins  to  show 
that  we  are  fit  to  stand  among  the  free  people  whose  free- 
dom is  buttressed  by  their  self-reliant  strength.  Let  us 
show  by  our  deeds  that  we  are  fit  to  be  the  heirs  of  the 

1  From  the  speech  deUvered  in  Chicago,  April  28,  1917. 

119 


120  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

men  who  founded  the  repubHc,  and  of  the  men  who  saved 
the  repubhc;  of  the  continentals  who  followed  Washington, 
and  of  the  men  who  wore  the  blue  under  Grant  and  the 
gray  under  Lee. 

But,  mind  you,  the  message,  the  speech,  will  amount  to 
nothing  unless  we  make  it  good;  and  it  can  be  made  good 
only  by  the  high  valor  of  our  fighting  men,  and  by  the 
resourceful  and  laborious  energy  of  the  men  and  women 
who,  with  deeds,  not  merely  words,  back  up  the  fighting 
men. 

We  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence  every  Fourth 
of  July  because  —  and  only  because — the  soldiers  of 
Washington  made  that  message  good  by  their  blood  during 
the  weary  years  of  war  that  followed.  If,  after  writing 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  men  of  '76  had 
failed  with  their  bodies  to  make  it  good,  it  would  be  read 
now  only  with  contempt  and  derision. 

Our  children  still  learn  how  Patrick  Henry  spoke  for 
the  heart  of  the  American  people  when  he  said,  "Give  me 
liberty  or  give  me  death,"  but  this  generation  is  thrilled 
by  his  words  only  because  the  Americans  of  those  days 
showed  in  very  fact  that  they  were  ready  to  accept  death 
rather  than  lose  their  liberty. 

In  Lincoln's  deathless  Gettysburg  speech  and  second 
inaugural  he  solemnly  pledged  the  honor  of  the  American 
people  to  the  hard  and  perilous  task  of  preserving  the 
union  and  freeing  the  slaves. 

The  pledge  was  kept.  The  American  people  fought  to 
a  finish  the  war  which  saved  the  union  and  freed  the 
slave.  If  Lincoln  and  the  men  and  women  behind  him 
had  wavered,  if  they  had  grown  fainthearted  and  had 
shrunk^rom  the  fight,  or  had  merely  paid  others  to  fight 


FAME'S  TRUE   APPLAUSE  121 

for  them,  they  would  have  earned  for  themselves  and  for 
us  the  scorn  of  the  nations  of  mankind. 

The  words  of  Lincoln  will  live  forever  only  because  they 
were  made  good  by  the  deeds  of  the  fighting  men. 

So  it  is  now.  We  can  make  the  President's  message  of 
April  2nd  stand  among  the  great  state  papers  in  our  his- 
tory ;  bvit  we  can  do  so  only  if  we  make  the  message  good ; 
and  we  can  make  it  good  only  if  we  fight  with  all  our 
strength  now,  at  once;  if  at  the  earliest  possible  moment 
we  put  the  flag  on  the  firing  line  and  keep  it  there,  over 
a  constantly  growing  army,  until  the  war  closes  by  a  peace 
which  brings  victory  to  the  great  cause  of  democracy  and 
civilization,  the  great  cause  of  justice  and  fair  play  among 
the  peoples  of  the  world. 

FAME'S   TRUE  APPLAUSE 

GEORGE   EDWARD   WOODBERRY 

It  cannot  be  that  men  who  are  the  seed 

Of  Washington  should  miss  fame's  true  applause: 
Franklin  did  plan  us;  Marshall  gave  us  laws; 

And  slow  the  broad  scroll  grew  a  people's  creed, — 

One  land  and  free !  then  at  our  dangerous  need. 

Time's  challenge  coming,  Lincoln  gave  it  pause. 
Upheld  the  double  pillars  of  the  cause, 

And  dying  left  them  whole, —  the  crowning  deed. 

Such  was  the  fathering  race  that  made  all  fast, 
Who  founded  us,  and  spread  from  sea  to  sea, 
A  thousand  leagues,  the  zone  of  liberty, 

And  built  for  man  this  refuge  from  his  past. 

Unkinged,  unchurched,  unsoldiered;  shamed  were  we, 

Failing  the  stature  that  such  sires  forecast. 


122  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

STAND   BY   THE   FLAG 

Stand  by  the  flag,  its  folds  have  streamed  in  glory, 

To  foes  a  fear,  to  friends  a  festal  robe, 
And  spread  in  rhythmic  lines  the  sacred  story 

Of  freedom's  triumphs  over  all  the  globe; 
Stand  by  the  flag,  on  land,  and  ocean  billow; 

By  it  your  fathers  stood,  unmoved  and  true: 
Living,  defended;  dying,  from  their  pillow, 

With  their  last  blessing,  pass'd  it  on  to  you. 

Stand  by  the  flag,  though  death  shots  round  it  rattle ; 

And  underneath  its  waving  folds  have  met, 
In  all  the  dread  array  of  sanguine  battle, 

The  quivering  lance  and  glittering  bayonet ; 
Stand  by  the  flag,  all  doubt  and  treason  scorning. 

Believe,  with  courage  firm  and  faith  sublime, 
That  it  will  float  until  the  eternal  morning 

Pales  in  its  glories  all  the  lights  of  time. 


THE   CALL   TO    BATTLE       - 

GILBERT    SHELDON 

If  through  the  dust  of  conflict  thou  descry 
The  shining  of  the  standard  of  the  Lord, 
Do  thou  arise  and  buckle  on  thy  sword, 

And  follow  where  it  leads  undoubtingly. 

Thou  hast  the  Light :   see  that  thou  walk  thereby ! 
Exceeding  great  and  sure  is  his  reward 
Whose  purpose  with  his  vision  doth  accord. 

And  as  his  soul  speaks  so  his  acts  reply. 


THE   CALL   TO   BATTLE  123 

And  if  it  shall  be  told  thee  that  the  foe^ 

Beholds  the  banner  that  thou  deemst  thine  own 
March  in  his  van  to  battle,  be  not  wroth. 

The  truth  is  other  than  the  truths  we  know; 

His  cause  and  thine  are  laid  before  the  throne, 
And  God  inclines  to  neither  and  to  both. 

— From   The  Nation 


THE   WORLD   SIGNIFICANCE   OF   THE   WAR 

WILLIAM    HOWARD   TAFT 

England,  France,  Russia,  Italy,  and  now  the  United 
States,  as  allies,  are  engaged  in  the  greatest  war  of  history 
to  secure  permanent  world  peace.  With  twenty  or  more 
millions  of  men  at  the  colors,  with  losses  in  dead,  wounded 
and  captured  of  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent,  with 
debts  piling  mountain-high  and  reaching  many,  many 
billions,  they  are  fighting  for  a  definite  purpose,  and 
that  is  the  defeat  of  German  militarism. 

If  the  Prussian  military  caste  retains  its  power  to  con- 
trol the  military  and  foreign  policy  of  Germany  after  the 
war,  peace  will  not  be  permanent,  and  war  will  begin  again 
when  the  chauvinistic  advisers  of  the  Hohenzollern 
dynasty  deem  a  conquest  and  victory  possible. 

The  Allies  have  made  a  stupendous  effort  and  have 
strained  their  utmost  capacity.  Unready  for  the  war, 
they  have  concentrated  their  energy  in  preparation.  In 
this  important  respect  they  have  defeated  the  plan  of 
Germany  ' '  in  shining  armor ' '  to  crush  her  enemies  in  their 
unreadiness. 

But  the  war  has  not  been  won.  Germany  is  in  posses- 
sion of  Belgium  and  part  of  northern  France.  She  holds 
Serbia  and  Rumania,  Poland  and  the  Baltic  Provinces  of 
Russia.  Peace  now,  even  though  it  be  made  on  the  basis 
of  the  restoration  of  the  status  quo,  "without  indemnities 
and  without  annexations,"  would  be  a  failure  to  achieve 
the  great  purpose  for  which  the  Allies  have  made  heart- 
rending sacrifice.     Armaments  would   continue   for  the 

124 


Copyright   by    Cliin-iiiDSt 


William  Howard  Taft 


THE    WORLD    SIGNIFICANCE  OF    THE  WAR       125 

next  war,  and  this  war  would  have  been  fbught  in  vain. 
The  millions  of  lives  lost  and  the  hundreds  of  billions' 
worth  of  the  product  of  men's  labor  would  be  wasted. 

He  who  proposes  peace  now,  therefore,  either  does  not 
see  the  stake  for  which  the  Allies  are  fighting,  or  wishes 
the  German  military  autocracy  still  to  control  the  destinies 
of  all  of  us  as  to  peace  or  war.  Those  who  favor  perma- 
nent world  peace  must  oppose  with  might  and  main  the 
proposals  for  peace  at  this  juncture  in  the  war. 

The  Allies  are  fighting  for  a  principle  the  maintenance 
of  which  affects  the  future  of  civilization.  If  they  do  not 
achieve  it  they  have  sacrificed  the  flower  of  their  youth 
and  mortgaged  their  future  for  a  century,  and  all  for 
nothing. 

This  is  not  a  war  in  which  the  stake  is  territory  or  the 
sphere  of  influence  of  one  nation  over  another.  The 
Allies  cannot  concede  peace  until  they  conquer  it.  When 
they  do  so,  it  will  be  permanent.     Otherwise  they  fail. 

There  are  wars  like  that  between  Japan  and  Russia,  in 
which  President  Roosevelt  properly  and  successfully  inter- 
vened to  bring  about  peace  that  helped  the  parties  to  a 
settlement.  The  principle  at  stake  and  the  power  and 
territory  were  of  such  a  character  that  a  settlement  might 
be  made  substantially  permanent.  But  the  present  issue 
is  like  that  in  our  Civil  War,  which  was  whether  the  Union 
was  to  be  preserved  and  the  cancer  of  slavery  was  to  be 
cut  out.  Peace  proposals  to  President  Lincoln  were  quite 
as  numerous  as  those  of  to-day,  and  were  moved  by  quite 
as  high  motives.  But  there  was  no  compromise  possible. 
Slavery  and  disunion  either  lost  or  won.  So  to-day  the 
great  moral  object  of  the  war  must  be  achieved  or  defeated. 


126  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

TOGETHER 

ALFRED    AUSTIN 

Who  say  we  cherish  far-off  feud, 

Still  nurse  the  ancient  grudges? 
Show  me  the  title  of  this  brood 

Of  self-appointed  judges ; 
Their  name,  their  race,  their  nation,  clan. 

And  we  will  teach  them  whether 
We  do  not,  as  none  others  can, 

Feel,  think,  and  work  together! 

Both  speak  the  tongue  that  Milton  spoke, 

Shakespeare  and  Chatham  wielded, 
And  Washington  and  all  his  folk 

When  their  just  claim  was  yielded. 
In  it  both  lisp,  both  learn,  both  pray. 

Dirge  death,  and  thus  the  tether 
Grows  tighter,  tenderer,  every  day. 

That  binds  the  two  together. 

Our  ways  are  one,  and  one  our  aim. 

And  one  will  be  our  story. 
Who  fight  for  Freedom,  not  for  fame. 

From  Duty,  not  for  glory; 
Both  stock  of  the  old  Home,  where  blow 

Shamrock,  and  rose,  and  heather, 
And  every  year  link  arms  and  go 

Through  its  loved  haunts  together. 

Should  envious  aliens  plan  and  plot 
'Gainst  one  and  now  the  other, 

They  swift  would  learn  how  strong  the  knot 
Binds  brother  unto  brother. 

How  quickly  they  would  change  their  tack 


PEACE  127 

And  show  the  recreant  feather,     \ 
Should  Star-and-Stripe  and  Union  Jack 
But  float  mast-high  together. 

Now  let  us  give  one  hearty  grip, 

As  by  true  men  is  given. 
And  vow  eternal  fellowship 

That  never  shall  be  riven ; 
And  with  our  peaceful  flags  unfurled, 

Be  fair  or  foul  the  weather. 
Should  need  arise,  face  all  the  world. 

And  stand  or  fall  together. 

PEACE 
ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BROWNING 
I  love  no  peace  which  is  not  fellowship 

And  which  includes  not  mercy.     I  would  have 
Rather  the  raking  of  the  guns  across 

The  world,  and  shrieks  against  Heaven's  architrave  .  .  . 

Such  things  are  better  than  a  Peace  that  sits 

Beside  a  hearth  in  self-commended  mood, 
And  takes  no  thought  how  wind  and  rain  by  fits 

Are  howling  out  of  doors  against  the  good 
Of  the  poor  wanderer.     What !     Your  peace  admits 

Of  outside  anguish  while  it  keeps  at  home? 
I  loathe  to  take  its  name  upon  my  tongue. 

'T  is  nowise  peace:  'tis  treason,  stiff  with  doom  — 
This  gagged  despair  and  inarticulate  wrong.   .    .    . 

O  Lord  of  Peace,  who  art  Lord  of  Righteousness, 
Constrain  the  anguished  worlds  from  sin  and  grief, 

Pierce  them  with  conscience,  purge  them  with  redress. 
And  give  us  peace  which  is  no  counterfeit ! 


THE   CALL   OF   THE   REPUBLIC 

GEORGE    HAVEN    PUTNAM 

The  Government  is  our  Government.  We  have  made 
it.  The  President  represents  the  votes  of  a  majority  of 
his  fellow  citizens.  The  Congressmen  are  the  men  we 
have  selected  for  our  national  councils.  We  ourselves  are 
responsible  for  the  policy  of  the  Republic.  We  owe  it  to 
ourselves  as  well  as  to  the  State  to  repress  with  promptness 
all  injustice  and  to  maintain  law  and  order. 

The  Germany  I  knew  as  a  student,  the  good  old  Ger- 
many, the  Germany  of  ideals,  for  which  Germany  fought 
in  1848  —  the  ideals  of  Goethe,  Lessing,  Komer,  Richter, 
and  other  thinkers  and  fighters  for  freedom — has  been 
poisoned  by  the  fumes  of  prussic  acid  from  Berlin.  One 
result  of  this  war  must  be  to  cleanse  Germany  from  this 
Prussian  poison. 

We  came  into  this  war  very  late.  Our  responsibility 
is  therefore  graver.  Under  the  pressure  of  war  our  people 
have  been  brought  together.  We  see  the  evolution  of  a 
nation's  soul.  We  go  into  this  war  with  Lincoln's  motto : 
"Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might  and  in  that 
faith  let  us  do  our  duty  as  we  understand  it." 

The  world's  war  has  now  resolved  itself  into  an  issue  of 
will  power.  The  people  who  are  fighting  for  the  liberty 
of  the  world  must  be  able  to  show  an  assured  purpose 
and  conviction  and  to  back  up  that  conviction  with  action 
in  such  fashion  that  the  forces  which  have  attempted  to 
secure  the  domination  of  Europe  and  the  world  shall  be 
driven  back.  It  is  clear  that  they  have  already  failed  in 
their  original  purpose.     They  must  be  so  overcome  that 

128 


George  Haven  Putnam 


THE   BUILDING   OF  THE   SHIP  129 

a  repetition  of  a  war  of  aggression  shall  be  impossible. 
This  struggle  is  a  war  against  war,  and  it  must  be  so  con- 
tinued that  we  shall  have  at  the  completion  an  assured 
peace,  a  peace  with  justice,  a  peace  that  will  maintain 
throughout  the  world  the  right  of  men  to  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness. 

THE   BUILDING   OF   THE   SHIP 

HENRY   W.  LONGFELLOW 

Thou,  too,  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State ! 
Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great ! 
Humanity  with  all  its  fears. 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate !  ■ 
We  know  what  Master  laid  thy  keel. 
What  Workmen  wrought  thy  ribs  of  steel, 
"     Who  made  each  mast,  and  sail,  and  rope, 
What  anvils  rang,  what  hammers  beat, 
In  what  a  forge  and  what  a  heat 
Were  shaped  the  anchors  of  thy  hope ! 
Fear  not  each  sudden  sound  and  shock, 
'Tis  of  the  wave  and  not  the  rock; 
'T  is  but  the  flapping  of  the  sail, 
And  not  a  rent  made  by  the  gale ! 
In  spite  of  rock  and  tempest's  roar, 
In  spite  of  false  lights  on  the  shore, 
Sail  on,  nor  fear  to  breast  the  sea! 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  are  all  with  thee. 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears. 
Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears. 
Are  all  with  thee  —  are  all  with  thee! 

10 


130  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

IT    IS    TIME 

It  is  time!     Come,  all  together,  come! 

Not  to  the  fife's  call,  not  to  the  drum; 

Right  needs  you ;  Truth  claims  you  — 

That 's  a  call  indeed 

One  must  heed! 

Not  for  the  weeping 

(God  knows  there  is  weeping !) ; 

Not  for  the  horrors 

That  are  blotting  out  the  page; 

Not  for  our  comrades 

(How  many  now  are  sleeping !) 

Nor  for  the  pity  nor  the  rage. 

But  for  the  sake  of  simple  goodness 

And  His  laws, 

We  shall  sacrifice  our  all 

For  The  Cause! 

— From  Lloyd  Roberts'  "Come  Quietly,  Britain!' 

A   SIMPLE   SONG  FOR  AMERICA 

KARLE  WILSON   BAKER 

Gather  us  to  thy  heart. 

Lay  us  thy  spirit  bare : 
Give  us  in  thee  our  part, 

0  Mother  young  and  fair ! 

Thou  art  so  great,  so  great, 

Thy  children  are  so  small, 
We  cannot  guess  thy  state 

Nor  compass  thee  at  all. 


A   SIMPLE   SONG   FOR   AMERICA  131 

Our  spirits  yearn  and  ache  \ 

To  forge  from  these  few  years, 
What  soberer  peoples  make 

From  centuries  of  tears : 

Love,  Hke  a  tempered  sword, 

Glittering  forth  at  need! 
We  can  but  pray  the  Lord 

Who  knows  nor  church  nor  creed, 

The  Day-spring  from  above, 

The  Truth  that  maketh  free : 
Give  us  great  hearts  to  love 

A  great  land  worthily!. 


OUR   MORAL   LEADERSHIP^ 

EDMUND  J.  JAMES 

We  are  gathered  here,  not  so  much  to  review  what  we 
have  done  or  failed  to  do  in  the  Great  War  during  the 
past  year,  as  to  dedicate  ourselves  anew  to  the  great 
enterprise  that  we  have  undertaken. 

In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  said  during  the  year  in  which 
we  have  been  at  war  with  the  Central  Powers  of  Europe, 
sustaining  and  helping  our  hard-pressed  and  courageous 
Allies,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  the  average  American 
citizen  even  yet  realizes  what  a  fundamental  world  issue 
is  involved;  how  great  is  our  privilege  in  being  permitted 
to  enter  this  conflict  actively  and  on  the  right  side;  how 
important  a  turning  point  in  the  history  of  the  world 
the  outcome  of  this  war  may  be;  and  how  fortunate  we 
are  in  having  a  president  who  has  seized  the  opportunity 
to  convert  what  to  a  narrow  observer  seemed  a  mere 
struggle  for  additional  territory  and  additional  material 
resoiirces  into  a  great  issue  in  the  progress  of  human 
freedom. 

When  Louis  XVI  called  together  the  Estates  General 
in  the  year  1789  to  take  counsel  as  to  the  state  of  the 
kingdom,  a  struggle  arose  between  the  king  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  various  orders,  which  might  easily  have 
remained  a  mere  local  incident  in  the  life  of  a  single 
nation.  But  the  genius  of  the  French  people  converted 
it  into  a  great  crusade  for  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity, 
out  of  which  grew  that  mighty  convulsion,  called  simply 

1  From  the  speech  delivered  April,  1918. 

132 


Edmund  Janes  James 


OUR   MORAL  LEADERSHIP  133 

"The  Revolution,"  so  fundamental  in  its  ^characteristics 
and  results,  so  sweeping  in  its  wide-spread  influence,  that 
all  previous  hiiman  history  seemed  a  mere  preparation 
for  it  and  all  subsequent  history  a  mere  outcome  of  it ;  all 
previous  lines  of  development  seeming  to  converge  toward 
it  and  all  subsequent  lines  of  progress  to  spring  out  of  it. 

The  present  war  at  first  was  regarded  by  some  as  a  mere 
contest  on  the  part  of  great  nations  for  more  territory 
and  a  larger  population  and  greater  wealth.  It  was 
natural  to  judge  from  previous  human  experiences  that 
smaller  powers  standing  in  the  way  of  the  waves  of  this 
furious  struggle  for  national  supremacy  would  be  swept 
away,  devastated,  ruined,  utterly  effaced  perhaps  —  and 
that  all  this  would  happen  as  so  inevitably  a  result  of  the 
conflict  of  great  powers  that  while  much  sympathy  might 
be  felt  or  even  expressed,  the  only  active  result  would  be  a 
shrugging  of  the  shoulders  and  an  "alas!  alas!  Such  is 
life.  Such  is  the  fate  of  the  small  man!  and  the  small 
nation!" 

And  then  the  conduct  of  the  Central  Powers  became 
such  that  even  those  Americans  who  did  not  appreciate 
or  care  for  a  moral  role  among  the  nations  for  the  Great 
Republic  saw  themselves  constrained  to  force  action  in 
order  to  defend  our  national  independence,  nay,  our 
national   existence. 

Even  then  the  issue  might  have  been  narrowed  and 
might  have  been  formulated  as  a  selfish  one,  affecting 
ourselves  alone  or  the  particular  desires  of  national  units, 
such  as  the  securing  to  Italy  of  the  territory  it  desired  at 
the  expense  of  Austria,  or  the  giving  to  Russia  of  the 
right  to  determine  the  eastern  boundaries  of  Germany, 
while  to  France  and  England  should  be  given  a  similar 


134  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

privilege  as  to  the  western  boundaries,  and  the  assign- 
ment to  England  of  the  German  Colonies  —  a  kind  of 
dispute  in  which  the  American  people  could  have  little 
personal  interest  except  so  far  as  it  safeguarded  or  threat- 
ened our  power  or  security. 

With  one  noble  and  sweeping  gesture  President  Wilson 
wiped  out  all  these  items  on  the  slate  of  world  division 
and  organization  and  wrote  down  as  our  goal  the  safe- 
guarding of  human  liberty  throughout  the  earth:  to  all 
people  —  not  merely  to  ourselves — to  the  small  as  well 
as  to  the  great  —  to  the  weak  as  well  as  to  the  strong  — 
the  assurance  that  they  may  order  their  own  lives  as 
freemen. 

The  stars  in  their  courses  are  fighting  for  us  and  our 
cause,  and  if  only  we  are  true  to  the  high  ideals  we  have 
adopted,  and  show  ourselves  worthy  of  our  ancestry  — 
in  energy,  in  perseverance,  in  skill,  and  in  devotion  —  the 
victory,  an  overwhelming  victory  will  be  ours. 

A  victory  for  us  means  victory  for  the  forces  of  right- 
eousness and  of  progress ;  protection  for  the  small  nation 
and  the  small  man,  for  women  and  children.  It  means 
LIBERTY  and  FREEDOM  for  all! 

"OH    MOTHER    OF  A   MIGHTY   RACE" 

WILLIAM    CULLEN    BRYANT 

Ay,  let  them  rail  —  those  haughty  ones. 
While  safe  thou  dwellest  with  thy  sons. 
They  do  not  know  how  loved  thou  art. 
How  many  a  fond  and  fearless  heart 

Would  rise  to  throw 
Its  life  between  thee  and  the  foe. 


"OH  MOTHER  OF  A  MIGHTY  RACE"  135 

« 

They  know  not,  in  their  hate  and  pride, 
What  virtues  with  thy  children  bide ; 
How  true,  how  good,  thy  graceful  maids 
Make  bright,  like  flowers,  the  valley-shades; 

What  generous  men 
Spring,  like  thine  oaks,  by  hill  and  glen;  — 

What  cordial  welcomes  greet  the  guest 
By  thy  lone  rivers  of  the  West ; 
How  faith  is  kept,  and  truth  revered, 
And  man  is  loved  and  God  is  feared. 

In  woodland  homes. 
And  where  the  ocean  border  foams. 

There's  freedom  at  thy  gates,  and  rest 
For  earth's  down-trodden  and  opprest, 
A  shelter  for  the  hunted  head. 
For  the  starved  laborer  toil  and  bread. 

Power,  at  thy  bounds, 
Stops  and  calls  back  his  baffled  hounds. 

Oh,  fair  young  mother!   on  thy  brow 
Shall  sit  a  nobler  grace  than  now. 
Deep  in  the  brightness  of  the  skies 
The  thronging  years  in  glory  rise, 

And,  as  they  fleet. 
Drop  strength  and  riches  at  thy  feet. 


136  THE   SPIRIT   OF    DEMOCRACY 

ON   PATROL 

He  went  to  sea  on  the  long  patrol, 
Away  to  the  East  from  the  Corton  Shoal, 

But  now  he's  overdue. 
He  signaled  me  as  he  bore  away 
A  flickering  lamp  through  leaping  spray. 
And  darkness  then  till  judgment  day, 

"So  long !    Good  luck  to  you ! ' ' 

He 's  waiting  out  on  the  long  patrol, 

Till  the  names  are  called  at  the  muster-roll 

Of  seamen  overdue. 
Far  above  him,  in  wind  and  rain, 
Another  is  on  patrol  again  — 
The  gap  is  closed  in  the  Naval  Chain 

Where  all  the  links  are  new. 

Over  his  head  the  seas  are  white, 

And  the  wind  is  blowing  a  gale  to-night. 

As  if  the  Storm-King  knew. 
And  roared  a  ballad  of  sleet  and  snow 
To  the  man  that  lies  on  the  sand  below, 
A  trumpet-song  for  the  winds  to  blow 

To  seamen  overdue. 

Was  it  sudden  or  slow  —  the  death  that  came? 
Roaring  water  or  sheets  of  flame  ? 

The  end  with  none  to  view? 
No  man  can  tell  us  the  way  he  died. 
But  over  the  clouds  Valkyries  ride 
To  open  the  gates  and  hold  them  wide 

For  seamen  o^^erdue. 


ON  PATROL  137 

But  whether  the  end  was  swift  or  slow, 
By  the  Hand  of  God,  or  a  German  blow, 

My  messmate  overdue  — 
You  went  to  Death  —  and  the  whisper  ran 
As  over  the  Gates  the  horns  began 
Splendor  of  God !     We  have  found  a  man. 

Goodbye !     Good  luck  to  you ! 

— From  Blackwood' s  Magazine 


ENGLAND  UNSHEATHES  THE  SWORDS 

HERBERT    H.  ASQUITH 

My  Lord  Mayor  and  Citizens  of  London: 

It  is  three  and  a  half  years  since  I  last  had  the  honor  of 
addressing  in  this  hall  a  gathering  of  the  citizens.  We 
were  then  met  under  the  Presidency  of  one  of  your  pred- 
ecessors, men  of  all  creeds  and  parties,  to  celebrate  and 
approve  the  joint  declaration  of  the  two  great  English- 
speaking  States  that  for  the  future  any  differences  between 
them  should  be  settled,  if  not  by  agreement,  at  least  by 
judicial  inquiry  and  arbitration,  and  never  in  any  circum- 
stances by  war.  Those  of  us  who  hailed  that  great 
Eirenicon  between  the  United  States  and  ourselves  as  a 
landmark  on  the  road  of  progress  were  not  sanguine 
enough  to  think,  or  even  to  hope,  that  the  era  of  war 
was  drawing  to  a  close.  But  still  less  were  we  prepared 
to  anticipate  the  terrible  spectacle  which  now  confronts 
us  of  a  contest  which  for  the  number  and  importance  of 
the  powers  engaged,  the  scale  of  their  armaments  and 
armies,  the  width  of  the  theater  of  conflict,  the  outpouring 
of  blood  and  the  loss  of  life,  the  incalculable  toll  of  suffer- 
ing levied  upon  non-combatants,  the  material  and  moral 
loss  accimiulating  day  by  day  to  the  higher  interests  of 
civilized  mankind  —  a  contest  which  in  every  one  of  these 
aspects  is  without  precedent  in  the  annals  of  the  world. 
We  were  very  confident  three  years  ago  in  the  rightness  of 
our  position,  when  we  welcomed  the  new  securities  for 
peace.  We  are  equally  confident  in  it  today,  when  reluc- 
tantly, and  against  our  will,  but  with  a  clear  judgment 

1  Delivered  September  5,  191 4. 

138 


ENGLAND   UNSHEATHES   THE   SWORD  139 

and  a  clean  conscience  we  find  ourselves  involved  with 
the  whole  strength  of  this  empire  in  a  bloody  arbitra- 
tion between  might  and  right.  The  issue  has  passed 
out  of  the  domain  of  argument  into  another  field,  but  let 
me  ask  you,  and  through  you  the  world  outside,  what 
would  have  been  our  condition  as  a  nation  today  if  we 
had  been  base  enough  through  timidity  or  through  per- 
verted calculation  of  self-interest,  or  through  a  paralysis 
of  the  sense  of  honor  and  duty,  if  we  had  been  base  enough 
to  be  false  to  our  word  and  faithless  to  our  friends? 

Our  eyes  would  have  been  turned  at  this  moment  with 
those  of  the  whole  civilized  world  to  Belgium,  a  small 
State,  which  has  lived  for  more  than  seventy  years  under 
the  several  and  collective  guarantee  to  which  we  in  com- 
mon with  Prussia  and  Austria  were  parties,  and  we  should 
have  seen  at  the  instance  and  by  the  action  of  two  of  these 
guaranteeing  powers  her  neutrality  violated,  her  inde- 
pendence strangled,  her  territory  made  use  of  as  afford- 
ing the  easiest  and  the  most  convenient  road  to  a  war  of 
unprovoked  aggression  against  France.  We,  the  British 
people,  would  at  this  moment  have  been  standing  by  with 
folded  arms  and  with  such  countenance  as  we  could  com- 
mand while  this  small  and  unprotected  State,  in  defense 
of  her  vital  liberties,  made  a  heroic  stand  against  over- 
weening and  overwhelming  force;  we  should  have  been 
admiring  as  detached  spectators  the  siege  of  Liege,  the 
steady  and  manful  resistance  of  a  small  army  to  the 
occupation  of  their  capital,  with  its  splendid  traditions  and 
memories,  the  gradual  forcing  back  of  the  patriotic  de- 
fenders of  their  native  land  to  the  ramparts  of  Antwerp, 
countless  outrages  inflicted  by  buccaneering  levies  exacted 
from  the  unoffending  civil  population,  and,   finally,  the 


140  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

greatest  crime  committed  against  civilization  and  culture 
since  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  the  sack  of  Louvain,  with 
its  buildings,  its  pictures,  its  unique  library,  its  unrivaled 
associations  —  a  shameless  holocaust  of  priceless  treasures 
lit  by  blind  barbarian  vengeance.  What  account  should 
we,  the  Government  and  the  people  of  this  country, 
have  been  able  to  render  to  the  tribunal  of  our  national 
conscience  and  sense  of  honor,  if,  in  defiance  of  our  plighted 
and  solemn  obligations,  we  had  endured,  nay,  if  we  had 
not  done  our  best  to  prevent,  yes,  and  to  avenge  these 
intolerable  outrages  ?  For  my  part  I  say  that  sooner  than 
be  a  silent  witness — which  means  in  effect  a  willing 
accomplice  —  of  this  tragic  triumph  of  force  over  law  and 
of  brutality  over  freedom,  I  would  see  this  country  of 
ours  blotted  out  of  the  pages  of  history. 

THE   CALL 

R.   E.  VERNEDE 

Lad,  with  the  merry  smile  and  the  eyes 

Quick  as  a  hawk's  and  clear  as  the  day, 
You,  who  have  counted  the  game  the  prize, 

Here  is  the  game  of  games  to  play. 

Never  a  goal  —  the  captains  say  —  ^ 

Matches  the  one  that's  needed  now: 

Put  the  old  blazer  and  cap  away  — 
England's  colors  await  your  brow. 

Man,  with  the  square-set  jaws  and  chin, 
Always,  it  seems,  you  have  moved  to  your  end 

Sure  of  yourself,  intent  to  win 

Fame  and  wealth  and  the  power  to  bend. 


THE   CALL  141 

All  that  you've  made  you're  called  1;o  spend, 
All  that  you  've  sought  you  're  asked  to  miss ; 

What's  ambition  compared  with  this  — 
That  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friend  ? 

Dreamer,  oft  in  your  glancing  mind 

Brave  with  drinking  the  faerie  brew. 
You  have  smitten  the  ogres  blind 

When  the  fair  Princess  cried  out  to  you. 

Dreamer,  what  if  your  dreams  are  true? 
Yonder' s  a  bayonet,  magical,  since 

Him  whom  it  strikes,  the  blade  sinks  through  — 
Take  it  and  strike  for  England,  Prince! 

Friend  with  the  face  so  hard  and  worn, 

The  Devil  and  you  have  sometime  met, 
And  now  you  curse  the  day  you  were  bom 

And  want  one  boon  of  God  —  to  forget. 

Ah,  but  I  know,  and  yet  —  and  yet  — 
I  think,  out  there  in  the  shrapnel  spray. 

You  shall  stand  up  and  not  regret 
The  Life  that  gave  so  splendid  a  day. 

Lover  of  ease,  you've  lolled  and  forgot 

All  the  things  that  you  meant  to  right; 
Life  has  been  soft  for  you,  has  it  not? 

What  offer  does  England  make  to-night? 

This  —  to  toil  and  to  march  and  to  fight 
As  never  you ' ve  dreamed  since  your  life  began ; 

This  —  to  carry  the  steel-swept  height, 
This  —  to  know  that  you've  played  the  man! 


142  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Brothers,  brothers,  the  time  is  short, 

Nor  soon  again  shall  it  so  betide 
That  a  man  may  pass  from  the  common  sort 

Sudden  and  stand  by  the  heroes'  side. 

Are  there  some  that  being  named  yet  bide? 
Hark  once  more  to  the  clarion  call  — 

Sounded  by  him  who  deathless  died  — 
"This  day  England  expects  you  all." 

AN   INVOCATION 

BEATRICE   BARRY 

That  little  children  may  in  safety  ride 

The  strong,  clean  waters  of  Thy  splendid  seas; 

That  Anti-Christ  be  no  more  glorified. 

Nor  mock  Thy  justice  with  his  blasphemies, 

We  come,  but  not  with  threats  or  braggart  boasts. 
Hear  us.  Lord  God  of  Hosts! 

That  Liberty  be  not  betrayed  and  sold. 
And  that  her  sons  prove  worthy  of  the  breed; 

That  Freedom's  flag  may  shelter  as  of  old, 
Nor  decorate  the  shrines  of  Gold  and  Greed, 

We  come ;  and  on  our  consecrated  sword 
We  ask  Thy  blessing,  Lord. 

That  honor  be  among  those  priceless  things 
Without  which  life  shall  seem  of  little  worth : 

That  covenants  be  not  the  sport  of  kings; 
That  freedom  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth, 

We  come ;  across  a  scarred  and  bloodstained  sod, 
Lead  us,  Almighty  God ! 


THE   SPIRES   OF   OXFORD  '  143 

THE   SPIRES   OF   OXFORD 

WINIFRED    M.    LETTS 

I  saw  the  spires  of  Oxford 

As  I  was  passing  by, 
The  gray  spires  of  Oxford 

Against  the  pearl-gray  sky. 
My  heart  was  with  the  Oxford  men 

Who  went  abroad  to  die. 

The  years  go  fast  in  Oxford, 

The  golden  years  and  gay. 
The  hoary  Colleges  look  down 

On  careless  boys  at  play. 
But  when  the  bugles  sounded  war 

They  put  their  games  away. 

They  left  the  peaceful  river, 

The  cricket-field,  the  quad, 
The  shaven  lawns  of  Oxford, 

To  seek  a  bloody  sod — 
They  gave  their  merry  youth  away 

For  country  and  for  God. 

God  rest  you,  happy  gentlemen. 

Who  laid  your  good  lives  down. 
Who  took  the  khaki  and  the  gun 

Instead  of  cap  and  gown. 
God  bring  you  a  fairer  place 

Than  even  Oxford  town. 


TO   THE  ARMY! 
Soldiers: 

Without  the  least  provocation  on  our  part,  a  neighbor, 
glorying  in  his  power,  has  torn  into  shreds  the  treaties 
that  bear  his  signature  and  violated  the  territory  of  our 
fathers. 

Because  we  have  been  worthy  of  ourselves,  because  we 
have  refused  to  forfeit  our  honor,  he  has  attacked  us. 
But  the  whole  world  is  amazed  at  our  loyal  stand.  May 
its  respect  and  its  esteem  sustain  you  in  this  supreme 
moment ! 

Seeing  its  freedom  menaced,  the  nation  has  been  deeply 
moved  and  her  children  have  hurried  to  her  frontiers. 
Valiant  soldiers  of  a  sacred  cause,  I  have  confidence  in 
your  tenacious  bravery,  and  I  salute  you  in  the  name  of 
Belgium.  Your  citizens  are  proud  of  you.  You  will 
tritimph,  for  yours  is  the  might  that  serves  the  right. 

Cffisar  said  of  your  ancestors:  "Of  all  the  peoples  of 
Gaul  the  Belgians  are  the  bravest." 

Hail  to  you,  army  of  the  Belgian  people!  In  the  face 
of  the  enemy,  remember  that  you  are  fighting  for  liberty 
and  for  your  menaced  hearths.  Remember,  men  of 
Flanders,  the  Battle  of  the  Golden  Spurs;  and  you,  Wal- 
lons,  who  now  stand  on  your  honor,  remember  the  six 
hundred  Franchimontois. 

Soldiers!     I  leave  Brussels  to  put  myself  at  your  head. 

Albert. 

Done  at  the  Palace  of  Brussels,  this  fifth  day  of  August, 
1914. 

144 


Copyright  by   Underwood  &   Underwood 

King  Albert 


THE   PRAYER  145 

Shy  and  smiling  midst  his  soldiers 

Like  some  young  father  'mongst  big  sons, 

In  the  cold  and  through  the  gloom, 

The  King  moves  along  the  trenches 

Speaking  little,  quietly  and  slow: 

"  Patience,  all  is  well,  work  on!" 

A  handclasp  and  a  look,  then  he  is  gone 

And  those  who  could  not  see  his  face 

Take  comfort  that  they  heard  his  passing  step. 

— From  Emile  Cammaerts'  "The  King  and  the  Emperor" 

^ —     THE   PRAYER 

AMELIA  JOSEPHINE  BURR 
yrhe  real  experience  of  a  French  gunner] 
You  say  there 's  only  evil  in  this  war  — 
That  bullets  drive  out  Christ  ?     If  you  had  been 
In  Fumes  with  me  that  night  —  what  would  you  say, 
I  wonder? 

It  was  ruin  past  all  words, 
Horror"where  joyous  comfort  used  to  be. 
And  not  clean  quiet  death,  for  all  day  long 
The  great  shells  tore  the  little  that  remained 
Like  vultiu-es  on  a  body  that  still  breathes. 
They  stopped  as  it  grew  dark.     I  looked  about 
The  ghastly  wilderness  that  once  had  been 
The  village  street,  and  saw  no  other  life 
Except  a  Belgian  soldier,  shadowy 
Among  the  shadows,  and  a  little  group 
Of  children  creeping  from  a  cellar  school 
And  hurrying  home.     One  older  than  the  rest  — 
So  little  older! — mothered  them  along 
11 


146  THE    SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Till  all  at  once  a  stray  belated  shell 

Whined  suddenly  out  of  the  gloom,  and  burst 

Near  by.     The  babies  wailed  and  clung  together, 

Helpless  with  fear.     In  vain  the  little  mother 

Encouraged  them  — ' '  But  no !     You  must  n't  cry. 

That  is  n't  brave,  that  is  n't  French ! "     At  last 

She  led  her  frightened  brood  across  the  way 

To  where  there  stood  a  roadside  Calvary 

Bearing  its  sad,  indomitable  Christ  — 

Strange  how  the  shells  will  spare  just  that!     I  saw 

So  many   .    .    .     There  they  knelt,  poor  innocents, 

Hands  folded  and  eyes  closed.     I  stole  across 

And  stood  behind  them.     "We  must  say  our  prayer - 

Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  she  began, 

And  all  the  little  sobbing  voices  piped, 

"Hallowed  be  Thy  Name."     From  down  the  road 

The  Belgian  soldier  had  come  near.     I  felt 

Him  standing  there  beside  me  in  the  dusk. 

"Thy  kingdom  come — " 

"Thy  will  be  done  on  earth 
As  it  is  in  heaven."     The  irony  of  it 
Cut  me  like  steel.     I  barely  kept- an  oath 
Behind  my  teeth.     If  one  could  name  this  earth 
In  the  same  breath  with  heaven  —  what  is  hell  ? 
Only  a  little  child  could  pray  like  this. 
"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  —  "     A  pause. 
There  was  no  answer.     She  repeated  it 
Urgently.     Still  the  hush.     She  opened  wide 
Reproachful  eyes  at  them.     Their  eyes  were  open 
Also,  and  staring  at  the  shadowy  shapes 
Of  ruin  all  around  them.     Now  that  prayer 
Had  grown  too  hard  even  for  little  children. 


IN   FLANDERS  FIELDS  147 


\ 


"I  know  —  I  know— but  we  must  say  the  prayer," 
She  faltered.  "Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread, 
And  —  and  forgive  — ' '  she  stopped. 

"Our  trespasses 
As  we  forgive  them  who  have  trespassed  against  us." 
The  children  turned  amazed,  to  see  who  spoke 
The  words  they  could  not.     I  too  turned  to  him, 
The  soldier  there  beside  me  —  and  I  looked 
Into  King  Albert's  face   ...   I  have  no  words 
To  tell  you  what  I  saw   .    .    .   only  I  thought 
That  while  a  man's  breast  holds  a  heart  like  that, 
Christ  was  not —  even  here  —  so  far  away. 

IN   FLANDERS   FIELDS 

JOHN    McCRAE 

In  Flanders  fields  the  poppies  blow 

Between  the  crosses,  row  on  row, 
That  mark  our  place,  and  in  the  sky. 
The  larks,  still  bravely  singing,  fly. 

Scarce  heard  amid  the  guns  below. 

We  are  the  dead;  short  days  ago 
We  lived,  felt  dawn,  saw  sunset  glow. 
Loved  and  were  loved,  and  now  we  lie 
In  Flanders  fields. 

Take  up  our  quarrel  with  the  foe! 
To  you  from  failing  hands  we  throw 

The  torch ;  be  yours  to  hold  it  high ! 

If  ye  break  faith  with  us  who  die 

We  shall  not  sleep,  though  poppies  grow 

In  Flanders  fields. 

— From  Punch 


148  t      THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

BELGIUM   SHALL  RISE^ 

CARDINAL    MERCIER 

My  dearest  brethren,  I  desire  to  utter,  in  your  name  and 
my  own,  the  gratitude  of  those  whose  age,  vocation,  and 
social  conditions  cause  them  to  benefit  by  the  heroism 
of  others,  without  bearing  in  it  any  active  part. 

If  any  man  had  rescued  you  from  shipwreck  or  from 
fire,  you  would  assuredly  hold  yourselves  bound  to  him 
by  a  debt  of  everlasting  thankfulness.  But  it  is  not  one 
man,  it  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  who 
fought,  who  suffered,  who  fell  for  you,  so  that  Belgium 
might  keep  her  independence,  her  dynasty,  her  patriotic 
unity;  so  that  after  the  vicissitudes  of  battle  she  might 
rise  nobler,  purer,  more  erect,  and  more  glorious  than 
before. 

In  your  name  I  sent  them  the  greeting  of  our  fraternal 
sympathy  and  our  assurance  that  not  only  do  we  pray 
for  the  success  of  their  arms  and  for  the  eternal  welfare 
of  their  souls,  but  that  we  also  accept  for  their  sake  all 
the  distress,  whether  physical  or  moral,  that  falls  to  our 
own  share  in  the  oppression  that  hourly  besets  us,  and  all 
that  the  future  may  have  in  store  for  us,  in  himiiliation 
for  a  time,  in  anxiety,  and  in  sorrow.  In  the  days  of 
final  victory  we  shall  be  in  honor;  it  is  just  that  today  we 
should  all  be  in  grief. 

Oh,  all  too  easily  do  I  understand  how  natural  instinct 
rebels  against  the  evils  that  have  fallen  upon  Belgium.; 
the  spontaneous  thought  of  mankind  is  ever  that  virtue 
should  have  its  instantaneous  crown,  and  injustice  its 
immediate  retribution.     But  the  ways  of  God  are  not  our 

^  Extract  from  the  famous  pastoral  letter  of  Cardinal  Mercier, 
December  25,  19 14. 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

Cardinal  Mercier 


BELGIUM   SHALL   RISE  149 


\ 


ways.  Providence  gives  free  way,  for  a  time  measured 
by  divine  wisdom,  to  human  passions  and  the  conflict  of 
desires.  God,  being  eternal,  is  patient.  The  last  word 
is  the  word  of  mercy,  and  it  belongs  to  those  who  believe 
in  love. 

Better  than  any  other  man,  perhaps,  do  I  know  what 
our  country  has  undergone.  These  four  last  months  have 
seemed  to  me  age-long.  By  thousands  have  our  brave 
ones  been  mown  down;  wives,  mothers,  are  weeping  for 
those  they  shall  never  see  again ;  hearths  are  desolate ;  dire 
poverty  spreads;  anguish  increases.  I  have  traversed  the 
greater  part  of  the  districts  most  terribly  devastated  in 
my  diocese;  and  the  ruins  I  beheld  were  more  dreadful 
than  I,  prepared  by  the  saddest  of  forebodings,  could 
have  imagined.  Churches,  schools,  asylums,  hospitals, 
convents,  in  great  numbers,  are  in  ruins.  Entire  villages 
have  all  but  disappeared. 

In  the  dear  city  of  Louvain,  perpetually  in  my  thoughts, 
the  magnificent  church  of  St.  Peter  will  never  recover 
its  former  splendor.  The  ancient  college  of  St.  Ives, 
the  art  schools,  the  consular  and  commercial  schools  of 
the  University,  the  old  markets,  our  rich  library  with  its 
collections,  its  imique  and  unpublished  manuscripts,  its 
archives,  its  galleries  —  all  this  acctunulation  of  intel- 
lectual, of  historic,  of  artistic  riches,  the  fruits  of  the 
labor  of  five  centuries  —  all  is  in  the  dust. 

Many  a  parish  has  lost  its  pastor.  In  my  diocese 
alone  I  know  that  thirteen  priests  were  put  to  death. 
Thousands  of  Belgian  citizens  have  been  deported  to 
the  prisons  of  Germany.  Hundreds  of  innocent  men  have 
been  shot  or  burned.  We  can  neither  number  our  dead 
nor  complete  the  measure  of  our  ruins. 


150  THE   SPIRIT  OF  DEMOCRACY 

And  there  where  Hves  were  not  taken,  and  there  where 
the  stones  of  buildings  were  not  thrown  down,  what 
anguish  unrevealed!  Families,  hitherto  living  at  ease, 
now  in  bitter  want;  all  commerce  at  an  end;  all  careers 
ruined;  industry  at  a  standstill;  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  workingmen  without  employment;  working- 
women,  shop  girls,  humble  servant  girls,  without  the 
means  of  earning  their  bread ;  and  poor  souls  forlorn  on  the 
bed  of  sickness  and  fever,  crying,  "O  Lord,  how  long, 
how  long? "  There  is  nothing  to  reply.  The  reply  is  the 
secret  of  God. 

Yes,  dearest  brethren,  it  is  the  secret  of  God.  He  is 
the  master  of  events  and  the  sovereign  director  of  the 
human  multitude.  As  for  us,  my  brethren,  we  will  adore 
Him  in  the  integrity  of  our  souls.  Not  yet  do  we  see,  in 
all  its  magnificence,  the  revelation  of  His  wisdom,  but  our 
faith  trusts  Him  with  it  all.  Before  His  justice  we  are 
humble,  and  in  His  mercy  hopeful. 

God  will  save  Belgium,  my  brethren,  you  cannot  doubt 
it.  Nay,  rather  He  is  saving  her.  Across  the  smoke  of 
conflagration,  across  the  stream  of  blood,  have  you  not 
glimpses,  do  you  not  perceive,  signs  of  His  love  for  us? 
Is  there  a  patriot  among  us  who  does  not  know  that 
Belgium  has  grown  great?  Nay,  which  of  us  would  have 
the  heart  to  cancel  this  last  page  in  the  national  history  ? 
Which  of  us  does  not  exult  in  the  brightness  of  the  glory 
of  this  shattered  nation?  When  a  mighty  foreign  power, 
confident  in  its  own  strength  and  defiant  of  the  faith  of 
treaties,  dared  to  threaten  us  in  our  independence,  then 
did  all  Belgians  rise  as  one  man. 

Belgium  gave  her  word  of  honor  to  defend  her  inde- 
pendence.    She  kept  her  word.     The  other  Powers  had 


TO  BELGIUM  151 

agreed  to  protect  and  to  respect  Belgian  neutrality. 
Germany  has  broken  her  word;  England  has  been  faithful 
to  it.  These  are  the  facts.  We  should  have  acted 
unworthily  had  we  evaded  our  obligation.  And  now  we 
would  not  rescind  our  first  resolution;  we  exult  in  it. 
Being  called  upon  to  write  a  most  solemn  page  in  the 
history  of  our  country,  we  resolved  that  it  should  be  also 
a  sincere,  also  a  glorious  page.  And  as  long  as  we  are 
compelled  to  give  proof  of  endurance,  so  long  we  shall 
endure. 

Truce  then,  my  brethren,  to  all  murmurs  of  complaint. 
Not  only  to  the  Redeemer's  example  shall  you  look  but 
also  to  the  example  of  the  thirty  thousand,  perhaps  forty 
thousand,  men  who  have  already  shed  their  life  blood  for 
their  country.  In  comparison  with  them  what  have  you 
endured  who  are  deprived  of  the  daily  comforts  of  your 
lives?  Let  the  patriotism  of  our  army,  the  heroism  of 
our  King  and  of  our  beloved  Queen,  serve  to  stimulate  us 
and  support  us.  Let  us  bemoan  ourselves  no  more.  Let 
us  deserve  the  coming  deliverance.  Let  us  hasten  it  by 
our  prayers.  Courage,  brethren.  Suffering  passes  away; 
the  crown  of  life  for  our  souls,  the  crown  of  glory  for  our 
nation,  shall  not  pass. 


TO   BELGIUM 

EDEN    PHILLPOTTS 

Champion  of  human  honour,  let  us  lave 

Your  feet  and  bind  your  wounds  on  bended  knee. 
Though  coward  hands  have  nailed  you  to  the  tree 

And  shed  your  innocent  blood  and  dug  your  grave, 


152  THE   SPIRIT  OF   DEMOCRACY 

Rejoice  and  live!  Your  oriflamme  shall  wave  — 
While  man  has  power  to  perish  and  be  free  — 
A  golden  flame  of  holiest  Liberty, 

Proud  as  the  dawn  and  as  the  sunset  brave. 

Belgium,  where  dwelleth  reverence  for  right 
Enthroned  above  all  ideals;  where  your  fate 

And  your  supernal  patience  and  your  might 
Most  sacred  grow  in  human  estimate, 

You  shine  a  star  above  this  stormy  night. 
Little  no  more,  but  infinitely  great. 

LIEGE 

WILLIAM  WATSON 
Betwixt  the  foe  and  France  was  she, 

France  the  immortal,  France  the  Free; 
The  foe  like  one  vast  living  sea 
-  Drew  nigh. 

He  dreamed  that  none  his  tide  would  stay, 
But  when  he  bade  her  to  make  way, 

She,  through  her  cannon,  answered,  "Nay, 
Not  L" 

No  tremor  and  no  fear  she  showed; 

She  held  the  pass,  she  barred  the  road 
While  Death's  unsleeping  feet  bestrode 

The  ground. 

So  long  as  deeds  of  noblest  worth 

Are  sung  'mid  joy  and  tears  and  mirth, 

Her  glory  shall  to  the  ends  of  earth 
Resound. 


LA  BRABANgONNE  153 

Watched  by  a  world  that  yearned  to  aid, 

Lonely  she  stood  but  undismayed, 
Resplendent  was  the  part  she  played, 

And  pure. 

Praised  be  her  heroes,  proud  her  sons; 

She  threw  her  souls  into  the  guns. 
Her  name  shall  with  the  loveliest  ones 

Endure. 


LA  BRABANCONNE 

FLORENCE   ATTENBOROUGH 

The  years  of  slavery  are  past. 
The  Belgian  rejoices  once  more; 
Courage  restores  to  him  at  last 
The  rights  he  held  of  yore ! 

Strong  and  firm  his  clasp  will  be, 
Keeping  the  ancient  flag  unfurl' d 
To  fling  its  message  on  the  watchful  world : 
For  King,  for  Right,  and  Liberty! 

For  thee,  dear  country,  cherished  motherland, 
Our  songs  and  our  valour  we  give; 
Never  from  thee  our  hearts  are  banned, 
For  thee  alone  we  live! 

And  thy  years  shall  glorious  be, 

Circled  in  Unity's  embrace. 

Thy  sons  shall  cherish  thee  in  ev'ry  place 

For  King,  for  Right,  and  Liberty. 


THE   FIGHTERS   OF   FRANCE ^ 

ANATOLE   FRANCE 

Dear  soldiers,  dear  fellow-citizens,  I  address  you  because 
I  love  you  and  honor  you  and  think  of  you  unceasingly. 

I  am  entitled  to  speak  to  you  heart  to  heart  because  I 
have  a  right  to  speak  for  France,  being  one  of  those  who 
have  ever  sought,  in  freedom  of  judgment  and  uprightness 
of  conscience,  the  best  means  of  making  their  country 
strong.  I  am  entitled  to  speak  to  you  because  not  having 
desired  war,  but  being  compelled  to  suffer  it,  I,  like  you, 
like  all  Frenchmen,  am  resolved  to  wage  it  till  the  end, 
until  justice  shall  have  conquered  iniquity,  civilization 
barbarism,  and  until  the  nations  are  delivered  from  the 
monstrous  menace  of  an  oppressive  militarism.  I  have 
a  right  to  speak  to  you  because  I  am  one  of  the  few  who 
have  never  deceived  you,  and  who  have  never  believed  that 
you  needed  lies  for  the  maintenance  of  your  courage; 
one  of  the  few  who,  rejecting  as  unworthy  of  you  decep- 
tive fictions  and  misleading  silence,  have  told  you  the 
truth. 

I  told  you  in  December  last  year:  This  war  will  be 
cruel  and  long.  I  tell  you  now:  You  have  done 
much,  but  all  is  not  yet  over.  The  end  of  your  labors 
approaches,  but  is  not  yet.  You  are  fighting  against  an 
enemy  fortified  by  long  preparation  and  immense  material. 
Your  foe  is  unscrupulous.  He  has  learned  from  his  leaders 
that  inhumanity  is  the  soldier's  first  virtue.  Arming 
himself  in  a  manner  undreamed  of  hitherto  by  the  most 

1  Extract  from  an  article  in  Petit  Parisien  in  1915;  translated  by 
Winifred  Stevens,  editor  of  "The  Book  of  France." 

154 


Copyright  by   Underwood  &   Underwood 


M.  Anatole  France 


THE   FIGHTERS   OF   FRANCE  155 

formidable  of  conquerors,  he  causes  rivers  of  blood  to 
flow  and  breathes  forth  vapors  charged  with  torpor  and 
with  death.  Endure,  persevere,  dare.  Remain  what 
you  are,  and  none  shall  prevail  against  you. 

You  are  fighting  for  your  native  land,  that  laughing, 
fertile  land,  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world;  for  your 
fields  and  your  meadows.  For  the  august  mother,  who, 
crowned  with  vine  leaves  and  with  ears  of  com,  waits  to 
welcome  you  and  to  feed  you  with  all  the  inexhaustible 
treasures  of  her  breast.  You  are  fighting  for  your  village 
belfry,  your  roofs  of  slate  or  tile,  with  wreaths  of  smoke 
curling  up  into  the  serene  sky.  For  your  fathers'  graves, 
your  children's  cradles. 

You  are  fighting  for  our  august  cities,  on  the  banks  of 
whose  rivers  rise  the  monuments  of  generations  —  roman- 
esque  churches,  cathedrals,  minsters,  abbeys,  palaces, 
triumphal  arches,  colimms  of  bronze,  theaters,  museums, 
town  halls,  hospitals,  statues  of  sages  and  of  heroes  — 
monimients  whose  walls,  whether  modest  or  magnificent, 
shelter  alike  commerce,  industry,  science,  and  the  arts, 
all  that  constitutes  the  beauty  of  life. 

You  are  fighting  for  our  moral  heritage,  our  manners, 
our  uses,  our  laws,  our  customs,  our  beliefs,  our  traditions. 
For  the  works  of  our  sculptors,  our  architects,  our  painters, 
our  engravers,  our  goldsmiths,  our  enamelers,  our  glass 
cutters,  our  weavers.  For  the  songs  of  our  musicians. 
For  our  mother  tongue  which,  with  ineffable  sweetness, 
for  eight  centuries  has  flowed  from  the  lips  of  our  poets, 
our  orators,  our  historians,  our  philosophers.  For  the 
knowledge  of  man  and  of  nature.  For  that  encyclopedic 
learning  which  attained  among  us  the  high-water  mark  of 
precision  and  lucidity.     You  are  fighting  for  the  genius 


156  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

of  France,  which  enUghtened  the  world  and  gave  freedom 
to  the  nations.  By  this  noble  spirit  bastiles  are  over- 
thrown. And,  lastly,  you  are  fighting  for  the  homes  of 
Belgians,  English,  Russians,  Italians,  Serbians,  not  for 
France  merely,  but  for  Europe,  ceaselessly  disturbed  and 
furiously  threatened  by  Germany's  devouring  ambition. 
The  Fatherland !  Liberty !  Beloved  children  of  France, 
these  are  the  sacred  treasures  committed  to  your  keep- 
ing; for  their  sakes  you  endure;  for  their  sakes  you  will 
conquer. 

THE   MARSEILLAISE 

ROUGET    DE   LISLE 

Ye  sons  of  freedom,  wake  to  glory ! 

Hark !     Hark !  what  myriads  bid  you  rise ! 
Yotu"  children,  wives,  and  grandsires  hoary. 

Behold  their  tears  and  hear  their  cries! 
Shall  hateful  tyrants,  mischiefs  breeding, 

With  hireling  hosts,  a  ruffian  band. 

Affright  and  desolate  the  land. 
While  peace  and  liberty  lie  bleeding? 

To  arms !  to  arms,  ye  brave ! 

The  avenging  sword  unsheathe ! 
March  on!  march  on!  all  hearts  resolved 

On  victory  or  death! 

Now,  now  the  dangerous  storm  is  rolling, 
Which  treacherous  kings,  confederate,  raise; 
•  The  dogs  of  war,  let  loose,  are  howling. 
And  lo !  our  fields  and  cities  blaze ; 

And  shall  we  basely  view  the  ruin. 
While  lawless  force,  with  guilty  stride, 


YOUR    LAD'   AND   MY   LAD  157 

Spreads  desolation  far  and  wide, 
With  crimes  and  blood  his  hands  imbruing ! 

To  arms !  to  arms,  ye  brave ! 

The  avenging  sword  unsheathe ! 
March  on!  march  on!  all  hearts  resolved 

On  victory  or  death! 

With  luxury  and  pride  surrounded, 

The  vile,  insatiate  despots  dare. 
Their  thirst  of  power  and  gold  unbounded, 

To  meet  and  vend  the  light  and  air; 
Like  beasts  of  burden  would  they  load  us. 

Like  gods  would  bid  their  slaves  adore; 

But  man  is  man,  and  who  is  more? 
Then,  shall  they  longer  lash  and  goad  us? 

To  arms!  to  arms,  ye  brave! 

The  avenging  sword  unsheathe! 
March  on !  march  on !  all  hearts  resolved 

On  victory  or  death! 

YOUR   LAD,   AND   MY   LAD 

RANDALL   PARRISH 

Down  toward  the  deep-blue  water,  marching  to  throb  of 

drum, 
From  city  street  and  country  lane  the  lines  of  khaki  come ; 
The  rumbling  guns,  the  sturdy  tread,  are  full  of  grim 

appeal, 
While  rays  of  western  sunshine  flash  back  from  burnished 

steel. 
With  eager  eyes  and  cheeks  aflame  the  serried  ranks 

advance; 
And  your  dear  lad,  and  my  dear  lad,  are  on  their  way  to 

France. 


158  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

A  sob  clings  choking  in  the  throat,  as  file  on  file  sweep  by, 
Between  those  cheering  multitudes,  to  where  the  great 

ships  lie ; 
The  batteries  halt,   the  columns  wheel,   to  clear-toned 

bugle-call. 
With  shoulders  squared  and  faces  front  they  stand  a 

khaki  wall. 
Tears  shine  on  every  watcher's  cheek,  love  speaks  in  every 

glance ; 
For  your  dear  lad,  and  my  dear  lad,  are  on  their  way  to 

France. 

Before  them,  through  a  mist  of  years,  in  soldier  buff  or 

blue, 
Brave  comrades  from  a  thousand  fields  watch  now  in  proud 

review ; 
The  same  old  Flag,  the  same  old  Faith  —  the  Freedom 

of  the  World  — 
Spells  Duty  in  those  flapping  folds  above  long  ranks 

unfurled. 
Strong  are  the  hearts  which   bear   along   Democracy's 

advance, 
As  your  dear  lad,  and  my  dear  lad,  go  on  their  way  to 

France. 

The  word  rings  out;  a  million  feet  tramp  forward  on  the 

road. 
Along  that  path  of  sacrifice  o'er  which  their  fathers  strode. 
With  eager  eyes  and  cheeks  aflame,  with  cheers  on  smiling 

lips, 
These  fighting  men  of  '17  move  onward  to  their  ships. 
Nor  even  love  may  hold  them  back,  or  halt  that  stern 

advance. 
As  your  dear  lad,  and  my  dear  lad,  go  on  their  way  to 

France. 


LILLE,  LAON,  AND  ST.  DIE  ^■'>9 

LILLE,   LAON,   AND   ST.    DIE 

JOHN  FINLEY 
I 

Lille,  Laon,  and  St.  Die! 

What  memories,  from  far  away, 

When  happy  France  was  wont  to  be 

Weaving  her  peaceful  tapestry 

And  singing  by  her  clacking  loom 

Amid  her  gardens  all  a-bloom  — 

What  memories,  from  far  away. 

Of  France's  joyous  yesterday 

Rise  through  the  dimming  mists  of  years, 

The  smoke  of  battle  and  the  tears 

Of  those  who  daily  look  across 

The  furrowed,  crimsoned  fields  of  loss 

Ploughed  all  the  trenched  and  barbed  way 

From  Lille  to  Laon  and  St.  Die. 

II  ' 

Lille! 
Long,  long  ago  I  was  in  Lille ;  — 
E'en  then  a  veil  did  half  conceal 
Her  face,  but  not  the  fleecy  rack 
Of  clouds  upon  the  shrieking  track 
Of  shell  and  shrapnel  bearing  death ; 
It  was  the  sweet  sea-vapor's  breath 
Encircling  her  as  if  in  fear 
I  'd  see  the  living  Tete  de  Cire 
And  ne'er  contented  be  elsewhere 
In  this  then  peaceful  world.     'Twas  there 
They  made  for  me  a  regal  feast ; 
But  now  we  here  who  have  the  least 


i6o  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Have  more  than  they  who  had  the  most 
And  played  so  gallantly  the  host ;  — 
And  so,  as  my  own  prayer  is  said: 
"Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread," 
For  those  who  hunger,  too,  I  pray 
In  Lille  and  Laon  and  St.  Die. 

Ill 

Laon! 
I  climbed  to  Laon  above  the  plain 
Where  now  the  Teuton  battle-stain 
Colors  the  crag,  to  find  the  spot 
Where  he  was  bom  who  left  his  lot 
Of  luxury  to  bear  Christ's  name 
To  savages  that  fought  with  dart 
And  tomahawk,  but  knew  no  art 
To  match  the  red  atrocity 
That  now  holds  Laon,  in  blasphemy 
Of  that  same  Father  of  us  all. 
Would  Pere  Marquette  would  come  and  call 
These  heathen  to  repentance  ere 
The  Strafe  and  Krieg  and  answ'ring  guerre 
Shall  make  the  whole  wide  world  a  hell ! — 
But  if  he  cannot,  we  who  dwell 
In  this  free  land  whose  mightiest  flood 
He  found,  will  give  our  mingled  blood 
To  wash  that  brutish  stain  away 
From  Lille  and  Laon  and  St.  Die. 

IV 

And  St.  Die! 
Dear  is  this  village  of  the  Vosges 
List'ning  afar  the  Mame's  eloge 


LILLE,  LAON,  AND  ST.  DIE  i6i 

And  to  herself  repeating  o'er  ^ 

The  word  she  whisp'ring  spoke  before 
All  others  in  the  world  —  a  word 
That  all  the  planet  since  has  heard  — 
' '  America ! ' '     Here  was  the  spring 
Of  our  loved  country's  christening; 
Here  in  this  cloistered  scholar's  haunt 
Was  our  New  World  baptismal  font, 
Now  scarred  and  blackened  by  the  guns 
Of  Europe's  scientific  Huns. 
America,  from  that  same  bowl 
Thou  'It  be  baptized  anew  in  soul ; 
But  not  by  water,  by  the  fire 
Of  thine  own  sacrosanct  desire 
For  right,  flashing  in  carmine  spray 
From  Lille  to  Laon  and  St.  Di4. 

V 

Lille,  Laon,  and  St.  Die! 
Our  battle  front,  as  theirs  to-day 
Who  fight  for  France,  all  unafraid 
Of  death,  weary  but  undismayed, 
To  help  push  back  the  green-gray  line 
That  it  may  never  leave  the  Rhine 
Again  to  menace  all  the  good 
Of  long-dreamed  human  brotherhood. 
Here  shall  our  France-befriended  land 
Take  now  its  sacrificial  stand; 
Fight  for  a  free  humanity. 
Fight  for  the  thing  that  ought  to  be. 
And  our  great  debt  to  France  repay 
At  Lille  and  Laon  and  St.  Die. 

12 


VIVIANI   AT   SPRINGFIELD! 

Gentlemen  and  Ladies: 

Before  coming  here  we  went  to  the  field  of  silence  to 
lay  quick-fading  flowers  on  the  immortal  tomb  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  bear  to  his  shade  the  greeting  of  all  France. 

And  I  would  have  you  know  that  however  great  the 
distance  between  Springfield  and  France  may  be,  the 
radiance  of  his  noble  face  has  long  been  known  in  our 
native  land.  In  no  democracy  did  any  man  offer  the 
world  a  purer  image  than  he  by  his  noble  career.  That 
career  is  far  better  known  by  you  than  by  me.  You 
know  that,  bom  of  the  people,  the  son  of  a  man  who  could 
not  read,  after  having  in  his  youth  suffered  every  sort  of 
privation,  he  rose  through  silent  meditation,  by  study,  to 
the  full  cultivation  of  his  mind  and  the  full  development 
of  his  will.  You  know  that  silently  he  rose  to  the  siunmit 
of  civic  honor ;  and  that  from  the  summit  he  had  attained 
he  looked  with  untroubled  gaze  upon  a  great,  an  heroic, 
a  tragic  duty;  he  knew  that  the  minds  of  men  cannot 
without  abasement  live  in  contact  with  injustice.  And 
that  is  why  whatever  pity  and  compassion  rent  his  soul, 
since  the  equality  of  all  human  beings  must  needs  be  pro- 
claimed, since  the  laws  must  needs  rise  to  the  level  of 
man's  dignity  in  all  places,  he  let  loose  civil  war  upon  his 
native  land — that  civil  war  whose  heroes  we  have  seen  in 
their  old  age  reconciled,  wherever  we  have  passed.  On 
the  mon-ow  of  his  gigantic  enterprise  he  died.  He  cannot 
be  said  to  have  been  buried  in  his  triumph;  that  trivmiph 
will  last  as  long  as  an  American  is  left  to  revere  it,  and 

1  Delivered  May  7,  1917. 

162 


Copyright   by  Underwood   &   Underwood 

Rene  Raphael  Viviani 


VIVIANI   AT  SPRINGFIELD  163 

we  have  come  here  to  salute  his  great  memory  in  the  name 
of  France,  of  the  French  RepubHc.  But  permit  me  to 
recall  with  just  pride  that  the  French  of  the  French 
Revolution,  of  the  Revolution  of  1848,  also  proclaimed  the 
rights  of  man.  And  this  shows  that  all  democracies,  in 
spite  of  distance  and  time,  are  one.  And  when  three 
years  ago  Imperial  Germany  in  arms,  without  provocation, 
without  a  shadow  of  excuse,  by  right  of  force  alone,  rushed 
on  France,  tore  up  international  rights  and  violated  all 
human  consciences,  France  with  her  allies  defended  those 
eternal  principles.  For  three  years  she  has  defended 
them.  And  now  America  in  turn,  rises  to  their  defense 
at  the  call  of  her  illustrious  President,  Mr.  Wilson,  who, 
too,  though  a  man  of  thought  and  a  philosopher,  has  seen 
he  must  become  a  man  of  action  when  these  eternal  prin- 
ciples exacted  reparation  and  vengeance. 

Now  we  are  all  united  in  this  great  struggle,  to  defend 
right  and  justice.  We  feel  as  if  at  every  step  in  this 
blissful  valley  we  have  found  old  memories  of  our  beloved 
motherland,  as  if  we  had  never  left  it.  Here  we  find  the 
shades  and  meinories  of  our  forefathers.  But  is  it  enough 
to  evoke  these  memories  in  a  speech?  Must  we  bury  all 
our  ardent  hopes  in  our  hearts?  I  shall  not  forget,  but 
transmit  to  my  fellow  countrymen  your  desire  to  pay 
back  your  debt  of  gratitude  to  France,  in  memory  of 
Lafayette  who  brought  here  help  and  French  soldiers  to 
fight  for  American  independence.  But  permit  me,  with- 
out any  thought  of  diminishing  the  effect  of  your  words, 
to  define  their  full  sense.  It  is  not  to  France  your  debt 
lies.  What  France  did  for  America,  she  did  for  liberty, 
with  no  thought  of  exacting  a  reward  for  it  some  day. 
It  is  to  all  humanity  your  debt  of  gratitude  should  be  paid : 


1 64  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

humanity  and  France  here  are  one.  Yes,  it  is  because 
that  noble  land  has  at  all  times  in  its  history  held  in  its 
hands  the  fate  of  the  world :  it  is  because  on  our  territory 
which  seems  to  have  been  chosen  by  history  as  the  meeting 
place  for  all  combats  and  immolations,  the  fate  of 
the  world  has  so  often  been  decided;  because  our  children 
with  their  hearts,  their  arms,  their  hands,  their  brains, 
are  struggling  even  now  to  keep  liberty  from  perishing, 
to  keep  disaster  away  from  the  whole  world;  it  is  because 
of  all  that  you  have  risen  in  arms.  And  when  you  rally 
to  France,  you  rally  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  of  right,  of 
democracy. 

Come,  then.  We  will  bear  away  from  your  land  the 
memory  of  these  meetings  of  free  citizens,  and,  when  we 
return  to  our  country,  when  the  free  citizens  of  republican 
France  ask  us  what  we  have  seen,  we  will  answer:  We 
have  seen  crowds  tumultuous  in  their  joy,  enthusiastic 
crowds,  but  they  came  not  forth  to  see  alone,  to  gaze  on 
passing  men :  they  came  as  to  some  great  duty,  to  acclaim 
France  through  us.  We  will  take  back  the  words  of 
all  your  orators;  we  will  tell  what  you  think,  what  you 
desire,  what  you  hope  for  from  the  future,  not  only  a  free 
and  delivered  France,  but  a  regenerate  Europe. 

And  v/hen  this  great  work  shall  have  been  accom- 
plished, American  brothers,  faithful  to  the  traditions  of 
Washington  and  Abraham  Lincoln,  you  may  return  in 
pious  pilgrimage  to  Mount  Vernon  and  to  the  graveyard 
of  Springfield  and  there  bow  in  silent  reverence  before  the 
two  pure  heroes  of  your  race.  You  will  most  surely  have 
served  their  memory;  and  rest  assured  that  by  so  doing 
you  will  have  broadened  yet  the  glorious  annals  of  the 
American  Republic. 


THE  BLUE  AND  THE  GRAY  IN  FRANCE  165 

THE  FATHERLAND  ^ 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL 

Where  is  the  true  man's  fatherland? 

Is  it  where  he  by  chance  is  born? 

Doth  not  the  yearning  spirit  scorn 
In  such  scant  borders  to  be  spanned? 
Oh !  yes !  his  fatherland  must  be 
As  the  blue  heaven  wide  and  free ! 

Where'er  a  human  heart  doth  wear 

Job's  myrtle-wreath  or  sorrow's  gyves, 
Where'er  a  human  spirit  strives 

After  a  life  more  true  and  fair, 

There  is  the  true  man's  birthplace  grand, 

His  is  a  world-wide  fatherland ! 

THE  BLUE  AND  THE  GRAY  IN  FRANCE 

GEORGE    MORROW    MAYO 

Here's  to  the  Blue  of  the  wind-swept  North, 
When  we  meet  on  the  fields  of  France; 

May  the  spirit  of  Grant  be  with  you  all 
As  the  sons  of  the  North  advance. 

And  here's  to  the  Gray  of  the  sun-kissed  South, 
When  we  meet  on  the  fields  of  France ; 

M  ay  the  spirit  of  Lee  be  with  you  all 
As  the  sons  of  the  South  advance. 

And  here's  to  the  Blue  and  the  Gray  as  one. 
When  we  meet  on  the  fields  of  France; 

May  the  spirit  of  God  be  with  us  all 
As  the  sons  of  the  Flag  advance. 


A   WELCOME   TO   MARSHAL  JOFFRE^ 

CHARLES  SEYMOUR  WHITMAN 

It  is  singularly  fitting  that  New  York  State  should  first 
bid  welcome  to  our  visitors  from  the  French  Republic, 
at  Washington's  military  home  in  Newburgh.  This 
place,  peculiarly  precious  to  Americans,  is  not  without 
French  associations  and  memories.  Here,  giving  aid  and 
comfort,  counsel  and  support,  to  the  leader  of  our  armies, 
lived  for  many  weeks  the  great  son  of  France,  Lafayette, 
and  as  we  recall  the  events  of  those  dark  days  of  struggle 
and  of  privation,  we  realize  that  Americans  and  French- 
men have  been  allies  before. 

Those  from  whom  you  drew  your  being  came  to  our 
fathers  then,  fighting  as  they  were  for  human  rights,  for 
justice  and  for  liberty.  Aided  by  France,  after  seven 
years  of  struggle,  the  cause  was  won,  and  a  nation  destined 
to  be  mighty  was  brought  forth  upon  this  continent. 

Three  peoples  were  represented  in  the  Revolutionary 
War  —  English,  French,  Americans.  Armies  sent  by  a 
stupid  and  stubborn  monarch  did  not  prevail  against  the 
spirit  and  the  character  of  a  people  who  themselves  drew 
their  inspiration  and  their  strength  from  their  ancestors 
over  the  sea  and  who  in  themselves  embodied  and  repre- 
sented that  which  was  greatest  and  best  in  England's 
history  and  England's  tradition  far  more  truly  than  did 
the  English  king  who  sent  his  soldiers  here. 

Again,  the  representatives  of  these  three  peoples  meet 
on  American  soil.     Again,  the  French  and  the  Americans 

1  Delivered  May  ii,  191 7,  at  the  Washington  headquarters  at 
Newburgh,   New  York. 

166 


Charles  S.  Whitman 


A   WELCOME   TO   MARSHAL   JOFFRE  167 

are  found  in  Washmgton's  headquarters.  ^Again  a  stub- 
born and  arrogant  ruler  has  plunged  his  nation  into  war. 
Despotism  gone  mad  has  filled  the  world  with  terror. 
But  the  Frenchman  and  the  Englishman  and  the  American 
are  not  divided  now.  The  nation  whose  existence  was 
made  possible  by  our  French  ally  over  a  century  ago  — 
composed  to-day  as  it  is  of  people  from  all  lands,  speaking 
many  languages,  with  natural  affections,  some  of  them, 
for  ancestral  homes  over  the  sea  ^  is  united  in  devotion 
and  loyalty  to  the  flag  and  all  for  which  it  stands.  We 
realize  that  our  allies  in  Europe  are  fighting  for  civili- 
zation, as  truly  as  did  our  fathers  fight  here;  that  the 
struggle  is  a  struggle  for  humanity  to-day,  as  truly  as  it 
was  in  1776,  and  that  no  price  is  too  high  to  pay,  no 
sacrifice  too  great  to  make,  for  the  holy  cause  for  which 
the  sons  of  Great  Britain  and  France  are  offering  their  all. 

We  are  with  these  people,  battling  for  the  right.  Their 
cause  is  our  cause.  We  have  engaged  our  lives,  our  liberty 
and  our  sacred  honor  that  a  shadow  may  be  lifted  from 
the  world  and  that  humanity  may  be  rescued  from  an 
evil  and  abominable  thing. 

Peace  will  come  again  —  a  peace  purchased  with  the 
blood  of  martyrs.  If  the  sacrifice  is  to  be  worth  while  — 
if  those  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain, — that  peace 
must  come  only  with  absolute,  complete  and  final  victory. 

On  behalf  of  the  State,  which  is  willing  and  more  than 
willing,  prepared  and  ready,  to  do  all  that  she  may  be 
called  upon  to  do  in  your  cause  and  in  ours,  I  bid  you 
welcome.  The  name  of  the  hero  of  the  Marne  is  as  truly 
a  household  word  in  the  land  which  Lafayette  came  to 
save  as  it  is  in  the  land  which  gave  him  birth. 

"Welcome"  is  an  easy  word  to  say,  and  I  realize  that 


i68  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

to  those  whose  Hves  have  been  what  yours  have  been  dur- 
ing the  last  months  and  years,  words  may  seem  Hke  empty 
things.  It  is  a  privilege,  however,  for  us  to  express  the 
admiration,  the  affection  and  the  reverence  that  our 
people  have  grown  to  possess  for  the  men  and  for  the 
women  of  France.  It  is  perhaps  impossible  for  us  to 
realize  all  tfiat  you  have  been  called  upon  to  endure  or  to 
appreciate  all  that  you  have  siiffered  as  you  have  made 
for  your  country  a  place  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of 
mankind  which  no  other  nation  has  ever  held. 

I  know  that  I  express  the  honest  sentiment  of  the  people 
of  the  State  of  New  York:  "God  save,  and  God  bless, 
the  Republic  of  France!" 


THE  NIGHTINGALES   OF  FLANDERS 

GRACE  HAZARD  CONKLING 

The  nightingales  of  Flanders, 
They  have  not  gone  to  war. 

A  soldier  heard  them  singing 
Where  they  had  sung  before. 

The  earth  was  torn  and  quaking, 

The  sky  about  to  fall; 
The  nightingales  of  Flanders, 

They  minded  not  at  all. 

At  intervals  he  heard  them 
Between  the  guns,  he  said, 

Making  a  thrilling  music 
Above  the  listening  dead. 


SOMEWHERE   IN   FRANCE  169 

Of  woodland  and  of  orchard  ^ 

And  roadside  tree  bereft, 
The  nightingales  of  Flanders 

Were  singing  "France  is  left!" 

SOMEWHERE   IN    FRANCE 

HARVEY  M.  WATTS 

"Somewhere  in  France"  they'll  bivouac  'neath  the  sky, 
As  poplared  roads  lead  straightway  to  the  front 
Where  the  scarred  towns  have  borne  the  frightful  brunt 
Of  gun  and  mine;  and  all  things  open  lie, 
A  cratered  desert,  grim,  where  none  may  ply 

The  trades  of  Peace;  but,  used  to  death,  full  blunt, 
From  trench  to  trench  the  hidden  foe  must  hunt. 
Giving  no  quarter  as  they  sullen  fly! 
"Somewhere  in  France"  —  This  is  the  only  hope 
To  save  from  those  who  batten  on  the  slain. 
To  meet  the  menace  of  this  armored  might  — 
Where  Joan  was  victor  they  must  more  than  cope. 
Or  else  the  rumbling  tocsin  sounds  in  vain, 
And  all  that  man  achieved  sinks  into  night ! 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   FRANCE 

MARSHAL   JOFFRE 

Among  all  the  innumerable  expressions  of  sympathy, 
all  the  kindnesses  showered  by  you  on  France,  none 
touches  us  so  deeply  as  what  you  are  doing  for  the  orphans 
of  our  heroic  dead.  Our  children  are  our  most  precious 
possession,  our  joy  and  our  hope,  and  there  is  no  surer 
way  to  our  hearts  than  to  help  these  little  ones,  the  most 
pitiful  victims  of  this  war  for  the  liberation  of  the  world. 
In  their  name,  in  the  name  of  our  soldiers  of  France,  I 
thank  you,  I  thank  the  children  of  America  whose  hearts 
have  gone  out  to  their  stricken  little  French  brothers  and 
sisters.  The  memory  of  what  you  have  done,  of  what  you 
are  doing,  will  never  fade.  You  have  sown  the  seeds  of 
love  and  friendship  between  our  two  countries.  They 
will  flower  when  they  are  men  and  women.  Between 
America  and  France  there  is  now  a  tender  bond  of  human 
kindness  and  affection  that  nothing  can  break. 


THE   VICTOR   OF   THE   MARNE 

ROBERT  UNDERWOOD  JOHNSON 

Adown  the  bright  and  fluttering  street 
Let  serried  thousands  throng, 

And  children  march  with  eager  feet 
In  phalanxes  of  song. 

That  Memory  to  their  latest 

Heirs  his  glorious  deed  prolong. 

170 


Copyright  by   Mayor's   Heceptioo   Committee    N.  Y 

Marshall  Joffre 


GRAND-PERE  171 


\ 


GRAND-PERE 

ROBERT    W.  SERVICE 

And  so  when  he  reached  my  bed 
The  General  made  a  stand : 
"  My  brave  young  fellow,"  he  said, 
"  I  would  shake  your  hand." 

So  I  lifted  my  arm,  the  right, 
With  never  a  hand  at  all : 
Only  a  stump,  a  sight 
Fit  to  appal. 

"Well,  well.     Now  that 's  too  bad ! 
That's  sorrowful  luck,"  he  said; 
"But  there!     You  give  me,  my  lad, 
The  left  instead." 

So  from  under  the  blanket's  rim 
I  raised  and  showed  him  the  other, 
A  snag  as  ugly  and  grim 
As  its  ugly  brother. 

He  looked  at  each  jagged  wrist; 
He  looked,  but  he  did  not  speak; 
And  then  he  bent  down  and  kissed 
Me  on  either  cheek. 

You  wonder  now  I  don't  mind 
I  hadn't  a  hand  to  offer  .    .    . 
They  tell  me  (you  know  I  'm  blind) 
'  T  was  Grand-pere  J  of  re. 


172  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

CHILDREN   OF  FRANCE 

GERTRUDE    ROBINSON 

Dear  little  sad-eyed  children  of  France, 
Once  on  a  time,  when  the  world  was  gay. 
In  the  streets  of  Paris  you  danced  and  sang, 
God  grant  you  again  a  happy  day, 
Sad  little  children  of  France. 

Wan  little  weary-eyed  children  of  France, 
In  the  streets  of  Paris  you  knelt  today, 

Knelt  at  the  sight  of  a  succoring  flag. 

Knelt  in  the  streets  where  you  used  to  play. 
Heartbroken  children  of  France. 

We  are  thinking  today  of  the  long  ago, 

Kneeling  children  beyond  the  sea. 
When  your  fathers  came,  with  hearts  aflame, 

To  us,  in  the  name  of  liberty. 
Fatherless  children  of  France. 

Fair  by  the  side  of  the  Red,  White  and  Blue 

The  Stars  and  Stripes  in  your  streets  are  a-blow! 

Never  so  beautiful,  now  they  glow 

In  the  name  of  that  help  of  the  long  ago. 
Kneeling  babies  of  France. 

You  knelt  in  your  streets  as  our  flag  went  by  — 
Our  flag  with  a  glory  strangely  new. 

The  stars  of  heaven  gleamed  in  its  folds, 
Strewn  but  today  in  that  field  of  blue, 
For  you,  O  children  of  France! 


CHILDREN   OF   FRANCE  173 

Dear  little  war-smitten  children  of  France, 
In  our  hearts  is  a  prayer  as  the  flag  goes  by  — 

For  the  flag  we  have  vowed  to  a  glorious  quest, 
For  the  flag  aflame  on  a  far  away  sky. 
For  God  —  and  the  babies  of  France. 


FRATERNAL   MESSAGE   TO  AMERICA^ 

GABRIELE    D'ANNUNZIO 

For  the  soul  of  Italy  to-day  the  Capitol  at  Washington 
has  become  a  beacon-light.  Now  the  group  of  stars  on 
the  banner  of  the  great  Republic  has  become  a  con- 
stellation of  the  spring,  like  the  Pleiades;  a  propitious  sign 
to  sailors,  armed  and  unarmed  alike;  a  spiritual  token  for 
all  nations  fighting  a  righteous  war.  I  give  the  salute  of 
Italy,  of  the  Roman  Capitol  to  the  Capitol  at  Washington ; 
a  salute  to  the  people  of  the  Union,  who  now  confirm  and 
seal  the  pledge  that  liberty  shall  be  preserved.  The 
spontaneous  act  consummated  by  the  people  of  George 
Washington  is  a  glorious  sacrifice  on  behalf  of  the  hopes 
of  all  mankind. 

Our  war  is  not  destructive.  It  is  creative.  With  all 
manner  of  atrocities,  all  manner  of  shameful  acts,  the 
barbarian  has  striven  to  destroy  the  idea  which,  until  this 
struggle  began,  man  had  of  man.  The  barbarian  multi- 
plied on  the  innocent,  infamous  outrages  inspired  by  hate, 
alternating  senile  impudence  and  brutal  stupidity.  The 
barbarian  ground  heroism  to  earth,  cast  down  the  airy 
cathedrals  where  congregated  the  aspirations  of  the  eternal 
soul,  burned  the  seats  of  wisdom  decked  with  the  flowers 
of  all  the  arts;  distorted  the  lineaments  of  Christ,  tore  off 
the  garments  of  the  Virgin. 

Now  once  again  we  begin  to  have  hope  of  the  nobility 
of  man.  Love's  face  is  radiant,  though  its  eyes  are 
moist  with  tears,  for  never  was  love  so  much  beloved. 
Love  overflows  on  all  the  world  like  a  brook  in  May. 

1  Sent  April  7,  191 7,  on  our  entrance  into  war. 

174 


Copyright  by   Underwood  &  Underwood 

Gabriele  D'Annunzio 


DECLARATION   OF   WAR    BY    ITALY  175 

Our  hearts  are  not  large  enough  to  gather  it  and  to  hold  it. 
The  people  of  Lincoln,  springing  to  their  feet  to  defend 
the  eternal  spirit  of  man  to-day,  increase  immeasurably 
this  sum  of  love  opposed  to  fury,  the  fury  of  the  barbarian. 

ON   THE   ITALIAN   FRONT,    MCMXVI 

GEORGE    EDWARD    WOODBERRY 

"  I  will  die  cheering,  if  I  needs  must  die; 

So  shall  my  last  breath  write  upon  my  lips 

Viva  Italia!  when  my  spirit  slips 
Down  the  great  darkness  from  the  mountain  sky; 
And  those  who  shall  behold  me  where  I  lie 

Shall  murmur:  'Look,  you!  how  his  spirit  dips 

From  glory  into  glory !  the  eclipse 
Of  death  is  vanquished !     Lo,  his  victor-cry ! ' 

"  Live,  thou,  upon  my  lips,  Italia  mine, 
The  sacred  death-cry  of  my  frozen  clay ! 

Let  thy  dear  light  from  my  dead  body  shine 
And  to  the  passer-by  thy  message  say: 

'  Ecco!  though  heaven  has  made  my  skies  divine, 
My  sons'  love  sanctifies  my  soil  for  aye!'" 

DECLARATION    OF   WAR   BY   ITALY 

GABRIELE    D'ANNUNZIO 

Now  the  arm  of  Rome  was  raised,  the  right  hand  of  Rome 

was  lifted  to  shake  and  to  shatter. 
But  we  beheld  our  signs  no  more:  there  was  no  prophet 

among  us,  nor  any  that  knew  how  long   .    .    . 
The  bombs  rumble  over  Monte  Nero:  the  guns  thunder 

over  Piedmont  .    .    . 


176  THE   SPIRIT  OF   DEMOCRACY 

The  dead,  O,  Italy:  thy  dead   ... 

Then  was  heard  from  on  high  a  voice  without  flesh  which 

said, 
"Blessed  are  the  dead!":  a  voice  made  itself  felt, 

announcing,    "Blessed    are    those    that    die    for 

thee!"   .    .    . 
The  dead  shall  have  a  new  song:  and  the  desert  shall  be 

sanctified. 


OUT  OF  ROME 

CLINTON    SCOLLARD 

Out  of  Rome  they  march  as  when 
Scipio  led  his  serried  men, 

While  the  cry  of  ' '  Viva !     Viva ! ' ' 
Rings  again  and  yet  again. 

They,  in  dreams  of  high  desire. 
Rousing  them  to  holy  ire. 
On  the  Capitolian  altars 
Have  beheld  the  vestal  fire. 

Rear  and  vanguard,  first  and  last, 
They  have  caught  the  virile,  vast. 

Emulous  centurion  ardour 
From  some  legion  of  the  past. 

Win  they  laiurel  wreath  or  rue. 
We  must  feel  that  this  is  true. 

That  the  ancient  Roman  valour 
Thrills  through  Italy  anew ! 


TO  THE   YOUNG   MEN   OF   ITALY  177 

TO   THE   YOUNG   MEN   OF   ITALY   ' 

GIUSEPPE    MAZZINI 

The  Italian  movement,  my  countrymen,  is,  by  decree 
of  Providence,  that  of  Europe.  We  arise  to  give  a  pledge 
of  moral  progress  to  the  European  world.  But  neither 
political  fictions,  nor  dynastic  aggrandizements,  nor 
theories  of  expediency,  can  transform  or  renovate  the  life 
of  the  peoples.  Humanity  lives  and  moves  through 
faith;  great  principles  are  the  guiding  stars  that  lead 
Europe  toward  the  future.  Let  us  turn  to  the  graves 
of  our  martyrs,  and  ask  inspiration  of  those  who  died  for 
us  all,  and  we  shall  find  the  secret  of  victory  in  the  adora- 
tion of  a  faith.  The  angel  of  martyrdom  and  the  angel 
of  victory  are  brothers;  but  the  one  looks  up  to  heaven, 
and  the  other  looks  down  to  earth;  and  it  is  when,  from 
epoch  to  epoch,  their  glance  meets  between  earth  and 
heaven,  that  creation  is  embellished  with  a  new  life  and 
a  people  arises  from  the  cradle  or  the  tomb,  evangelist 
or  prophet.   .    .    . 

Love  your  country.  Your  country  is  the  land  where 
your  parents  sleep,  where  is  spoken  that  language  in 
which  the  chosen  of  your  heart,  blushing,  whispered  the 
first  word  of  love;  it  is  the  home  that  God  has  given  you, 
that,  by  striving  to  perfect  yourselves  therein,  you  may 
prepare  to  ascend  to  Him.  It  is  your  name,  your  glory, 
your  sign  among  the  people.  Give  to  it  your  thoughts, 
your  counsels,  your  blood.  Raise  it  up,  great  and  beauti- 
ful as  it  was  foretold  by  our  great  men,  and  see  that  you 
leave  it  uncontaminated  by  any  trace  of  falsehood  or  of 
servitude;  unprofaned  by  dismemberment.  Let  it  be 
one,  as  the  thought  of  God.  You  are  twenty-five  millions 
of  men,  endowed  with  active,  splendid  faculties;  possessing 
13 


178  THE   SPIRIT  OF   DEMOCRACY 

a  tradition  of  glory  the  envy  of  the  nations  of  Europe. 
An  immense  future  is  before  you;  you  Hft  your  eyes  to 
the  lovehest  heaven,  and  around  you  smiles  the  loveliest 
land  in  Europe;  you  are  encircled  by  the  Alps  and  the 
sea,  boundaries  traced  out  by  the  finger  of  God  for  a 
people  of  giants  —  you  are  bound  to  be  such,  or  to  be 
nothing.    .    .    . 

Love  humanity.  You  can  only  ascertain  your  own 
mission  from  the  aim  set  by  God  before  humanity  at 
large.  God  has  given  you  your  country  as  cradle  and 
humanity  as  mother;  you  can  not  rightly  love  your  breth- 
ren of  the  cradle  if  you  love  not  the  common  mother. 
Beyond  the  Alps,  beyond  the  sea,  are  other  peoples  now 
fighting  or  preparing  to  fight  the  holy  fight  of  independ- 
ence, of  nationality,  of  liberty;  other  peoples  striving  by 
different  routes  to  reach  the  same  goal — improvement, 
association,  and  the  foundation  of  an  authority  which 
shall  put  an  end  to  moral  anarchy  and  relink  the  earth  to 
heaven;  an  authority  which  mankind  may  love  and  obey 
without  remorse  or  shame.  Unite  with  them;  they  will 
unite  with  you.  Do  not  invoke  their  aid  where  your 
single  arm  can  suffice  to  conquer;  but  say  to  them  that 
the  hour  will  shortly  sound  for  a  terrible  struggle  between 
right  and  blind  force,  and  that  in  that  hour  you  will  ever 
be  found  with  those  who  have  raised  the  same  banner 
as  yourselves. 

And  love,  young  men,  love  and  venerate  the  ideal.  The 
ideal  is  the  Word  of  God.  High  above  every  country, 
high  above  humanity,  is  the  country _of  the  spirit,  the_city 
of  the  soul,  in  which  all  are  brethren  who  believe  in  the 
inviolability  of  thought  and  in  the  dignity  of  oui  immortal 
soul;  and  the  baptism  of  this  fraternity  is  martyrdom. 


TO  THE  YOUNG   MEN   OF   ITALY  179 

From  that  high  sphere  spring  the  principles^  which  alone 
can  redeem  the  peoples.  Arise  for  the  sake  of  these,  and 
not  from  impatience  of  suffering  or  dread  of  evil.  Anger, 
pride,  ambition,  and  the  desire  of  material  prosperity  are 
arms  common  alike  to  the  peoples  and  their  oppressors, 
and  even  should  you  conquer  with  these  to-day,  you 
would  fall  again  to-morrow;  but  principles  belong  to  the 
peoples  alone,  and  their  oppressors  can  find  no  arms  to 
oppose  them.  Adore  enthusiasm,  the  dreams  of  the  vir- 
gin soul  and  the  visions  of  early  youth,  for  they  are  a  per- 
fume of  paradise  which  the  soul  retains  in  issuing  from  the 
hands  of  its  Creator.  Respect  above  all  things  your 
conscience;  have  upon  your  lips  the  truth  implanted  by 
God  in  your  hearts,  and  while  laboring  in  harmony,  even 
with  those  who  differ  from  you,  in  all  that  tends  to  the 
emancipation  of  our  soil,  yet  ever  bear  your  own  banner 
erect  and  boldly  promulgate  your  own  faith.  .  .  . 
God  be  with  you,  and  bless  Italy ! 


SERBIA'S  SACRIFICE  1 

MAJOR  STOBART 

As  Serbian  politicians  looked  from  the  heights  of  their 
Serbian  mountains  upon  the  glories  of  their  fertile  land, 
a  land  of  corn  and  bread,  a  land  of  wine  and  vineyards, 
they  must  have  heard  the  Tempter's  words,  whispering 
as  of  old,  "All  these  things  will  I  give  you  if  —  if  —  you 
will  fall  down  and  worship  militarism  and  the  Central 
Powers."  But  with  one  voice  the  Serbian  people  an- 
swered, "Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan.  It  is  ^vritten  in 
our  hearts,  'Thou  shalt  worship  Freedom:  her  only  shalt 
thou  serve.'  "  Thus  Serbia,  the  latest  evoked  of  the 
European  nations,  perceived  with  an  insight  at  which 
history  will  one  day  marvel,  the  inner,  the  true  interpre- 
tation of  the  word  "nation."  She  perceived  that  the 
life  force  of  a  nation  is  a  spiritual  force,  and  is  not  depend- 
ent on  material  conditions  for  existence.  Serbia  had 
existed  during  five  hundred  years  of  material  annihilation 
under  Turkish  rule.  Through  all  that  wilderness  of  time 
the  ideal  of  freedom  had  been  her  pillar  of  cloud  by  day 
and  of  fire  by  night,  pointing  to  the  Promised  Land. 
Serbia  is  again  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  same  light 
guides  and  cheers  her.  She  is  full  of  courageous  faith, 
because  she  understands  that  a  nation  means,  primarily, 
not  physical  country  (mountains,  rivers,  valleys),  not 
State,  not  Government,  but  a  free  and  united  spirit. 
That  is  the  only  definition  which  allows  of  the  indefinite 
expansion  which  will  some  day  include  all  human  kind 
in  one  united  nation.     Serbia  is  full  of  faith  and  hope, 

^  From  The  Flaming  Sword  in  Serbia  and  Elsewhere. 

i8o 


Copyright  by   Underwood   A    Underwood 


Major  St.  Clair  Stobart 


SERBIA  i8i 

because  she  knows  that  she  is  not,  and  never  will  be, 
deprived  of  nationhood. 

In  some  minor  ways  Serbia  may,  in  her  civilization, 
have  been  behind  other  nations  in  the  west  of  Europe, 
but  she  was  ahead  of  Western  Europe  in  that  one  thing 
which  is  of  real  importance,  that  one  thing  which  cannot 
be  copied  or  learned  from  other  nations,  and  which  is 
therefore  either  innate  or  unachievable:  Serbia  is  ahead 
of  other  nations  in  her  power  of  sacrificing  herself  for 
ideals.  All  nations  are  ready  to  sacrifice  life  for  nation- 
hood. Serbia  made  first  this  common  sacrifice,  but  when 
that  did  not  avail,  she  voluntarily,  for  the  sake  of  an 
abstract  and  spiritual  ideal,  made  the  supreme  sacrifice, 
the '  sacrifice  of  country,  the  sacrifice  for  which  other 
nations  make  the  penultimate  sacrifice  of  life.  The 
Serbian  people  sacrificed  their  country  rather  than  bow 
the  knee  to  militarism  and  foreign  tyranny ;  they  sacrificed 
their  country  in  Utopian  quest  for  the  right,  both  for 
themselves  and  for  other  Slav  brethren,  to  work  out  their 
own  salvation  in  spiritual  freedom.  A  people  with  such 
ideals,  and  with  such  power  of  sacrifice,  must  be  worthy 
of  a  great  future. 

SERBIA 

AMELIA    JOSEPHINE    BURR 

Hark,  from  the  East  a  keen  and  bitter  cry  — 

New  tears  are  flowing  in  the  furrows  of  old  sorrow. 
On  your  wasted  fields  your  dead  drift  like  fallen  leaves; 

Only  the  Pale  Harvester  garners  heavy  sheaves. 
How  have  you   the  courage   to   struggle   toward    to- 
morrow, 
Serbia,  Serbia,  land  that  will  not  die? 


l82  THE   SPIRIT  OF   DEMOCRACY 

I  have  stood  for  freedom — freedom  can  not  perish. 

I  have  stood  for  honor — honor  must  endure. 
But  my  children  starve,  the  children  who  should  cherish 

For  the  world's  to-morrow  my  spirit  flaming-pure. 
You  who  sit  in  safety,  you  whose  babes  are  fed. 

You  who  by  the  peril  of  other  men  are  free, 
Listen  to  my  living,  ere  the  hour  be  sped, 

Lest  you  hear  forever  the  silence  of  my  dead. 
Serbia,  Serbia,  God  hears.     Do  we? 

SCARRED 

Far  nobler  the  sword  that  is  nicked  and  worn, 
Far  fairer  the  flag  that  is  grimy  and  torn, 
Than  when  to  the  battle  fresh  they  were  borne. 

He  was  tried  and  found  true;  He  stood  the  test; 
'Neath  whirlwinds  of  doubt,  when  all  the  rest 
Crouched  down  and  submitted,  He  fought  best. 

There  are  wounds  on  His  breast  that  can  never  be  healed, 
There  are  gashes  that  bleed  and  may  not  be  sealed, 
But,  wounded  and  gashed.  He  won  the  field. 

And  others  may  dream  in  their  easy  chairs, 

And  point  their  white  hands  to  the  scars  He  bears; 

And  the  palm  and  the  laurel  are  His  —  not  theirs. 

SALONIKA   IN   NOVEMBER 

BRIAN    HILL 
Up  above  the  gray  hills  the  wheeling  birds  are  calling, 

Round  about  the  cold  gray  hills  in  never-resting  flight; 
Far  along  the  marshes  a  drifting  mist  is  falling, 

Scattered  tents  and  sandy  plain  melt  into  the  night. 


SALONIKA   IN    NOVEMBER  183 

Round   about  the  gray  hills  rumbles  distant   thunder, 
Echoes  of  the  mighty  guns  firing  night  and  day, — 

Gray  guns,  long  guns,  that  smite  the  hills  asunder, 
Grumbling  and  rumbling,  and  telling  of  the  fray. 

Out  among  the  islands  twinkling  lights  are  glowing, 
Distant  little  fairy  lights,  that  gleam  upon  the  bay; 

All  along  the  broken  road  gray  transport  wagons  going 
Up  to  where  the  long  gray  guns  roar  and  crash  alway. 

Up  above  the  cold  gray  hills  the  wheel-birds  are  crying, 
Brother  calls  to  brother,  as  they  pass  in  restless  flight. 

Lost  souls,  dead  souls,  voices  of  the  dying. 

Circle  o'er  the  hills  of  Greece  and  wail  into  the  night. 

—  From   The  Poetry  Review 


WOMAN'S   DUTY* 

MRS.  PERCY  V.  PENNYBACKER 

There  was  never  greater  need  for  women  to  be  sane  than 
at  this  hour.  There  is  no  excuse  for  excitement  or  for 
hysteria.  If  our  men  are  to  give  the  best  that  is  in  them, 
we  must  keep  the  atmosphere  of  our  homes  sweet  and 
serene.  Remember,  no  sacrifice  is  a  great  sacrifice  unless 
it  is  made  cheerfully.  Let  there  be  no  weeping,  no  com- 
plaining, no  lamentation,  when  our  beloved  ones  answer 
the  call  to  duty. 

This  is  also  a  time  for  moral  sanity  and  for  lofty  ideals. 
I  wish  I  could  burn  into  the  heart  of  every  young  woman 
the  remark  that  a  distinguished  military  man  made  a 
few  days  ago:  "The  influence  of  young  women  on  sol- 
diers is  terrifying  in  its  strength;  it  is  not  what  a  woman 
says,  it  is  not  what  a  woman  does,  it  is  what  she  really  is 
that  counts.  Men  sense  inmost  beliefs.  Men  raise  or 
lower  their  ideals  as  she  dictates."  This  is  an  a^vful 
responsibility,  young  women,  but  it  is  yours;  you  cannot 
escape  it.  In  these  days  of  distress,  every  woman  should 
pass  her  soul  in  review  before  herself  and  ask:  "What 
are  my  standards?  Do  I  really  believe  that  the  Com- 
mandments were  given  for  men  as  well  as  for  women? 
Do  I  reaHze  that  I  am  in  part  'my  brother's  keeper'?  " 
In  dress,  in  speech,  in  manner,  in  thought,  are  the  young 
women  of  America  doing  their  full  duty  to  help  our  boys 
in  the  ranks  to  retain  the  loftiest  ideals  of  womanhood, 
to  live  clean  lives,  to  take  as  much  pride  in  moral  as  in 
physical  victory?     It  is  the  duty  of  every  woman  in  this 

*  From  a  speech  delivered  July  6,  1917- 

184 


WOMAN'S   DUTY  185 

country  to  help,  because  the  happiness  of  all  is  at  stake! — 
the  salvation  of  the  next  generation  is  in  peril. 

It  is  the  duty  of  women — the  special  duty — to  see  that 
no  hate  enters  into  our  hearts.  If  we  banish  this  mon- 
ster, our  husbands,  sons  and  lovers  will  find  it  easier  to 
shut  their  souls  to  hate.  President  Wilson  has  well  said, 
"We  are  not  making  war  on  the  German  people."  This 
is  a  holy  war,  and  in  such  a  struggle  there  is  no  place  for 
hatred.  No  one  who  has  lived  in  Germany,  as  some  of 
us  have,  and  has  known  the  lovely  home  life,  can  hate  the 
German  people.  No  one  who  has  been  ill  in  Germany,  as 
some  of  us  have,  and  has  received  generous  kindness  and 
consideration,  can  hate  the  German  people.  No  one  who 
has  studied  history  aright  and  has  learned  the  con- 
tributions made  to  the  happiness  of  the  world  by  the  men 
and  women  of  Germany,  can  hate  the  German  people. 

As  I  sit  in  church  on  Sunday  and  see  the  Cross  borne 
down  the  aisle,  my  heart  is  thrilled  when  I  behold  that 
now,  side  by  side  with  the  Cross,  comes  the  Flag.  At  the 
altar  they  stand  like  twin  sentinels  guarding  the  Holy  of 
Holies.  I  love  to  think  of  our  America  today  as  a 
gracious,  beautiful  matron.  In  her  hour  of  peril,  before 
the  altar  she  calls  her  stalwart  sons,  she  calls  her  fair 
young  daughters,  and  says:  "My  children,  behold  this 
Flag,  'the  Stars  and  Stripes';  it  has  been  baptized  in 
blood  and  sacrifice;  it  stands  for  liberty  and  love;  it  has 
never  stood  for  oppression,  for  tyranny,  for  conquest. 
You  were  bom  beneath  it.;  it  has  cherished  you;  I  give  it 
now  into  your  hands.  Guard  it,  die  for  it,  but  forget  not 
that  with  this  Flag  I  give  you  another  — the  Flag  of 
Christ  —  the  Flag  that  has  said  for  two  thousand  years, 
and  says  today,  'Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.'  " 


1 86  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

THE   BRAVE  AT   HOME 

THOMAS    BUCHANAN    READ 
I 

The  maid  who  binds  her  warrior's  sash 

With  smile  that  well  her  pain  dissembles, 
The  while  beneath  her  drooping  lash 

One  starry  tear-drop  hangs  and  trembles, 
Though  Heaven  alone  records  the  tear. 

And  Fame  shall  never  know  her  story, 
Her  heart  has  shed  a  drop  as  dear 

As  e're  bedewed  the  field  of  glory ! 

II 

The  wife  who  girds  her  husband's  sword, 

Mid  little  ones  who  weep  or  wonder. 
And  bravely  speaks  the  cheering  word, 

What  though  her  heart  be  rent  asunder. 
Doomed  nightly  in  her  dreams  to  hear 

The  bolts  of  death  around  him  rattle. 
Hath  shed  as  sacred  blood  as  e're 

Was  poured  upon  the  field  of  battle ! 

Ill 

The  mother  who  conceals  her  grief 

While  to  her  breast  her  son  she  presses, 
Then  breathes  a  few  brave  words  and  brief, 

Kissing  the  patriot  brow  she  blesses. 
With  no  one  but  her  secret  God 

To  know  the  pain  that  weighs  upon  her, 
Sheds  holy  blood  as  e're  the  sod 

Received  on  Freedom's  field  of  honor! 


MOTHERING  187 

TO  WOMAN  ^ 

LAWRENCE  BINYON 

Your  hearts  are  lifted  up,  your  hearts 
That  have  foreknown  the  utter  price, 
Your  hearts  bum  upward  Hke  a  flame 
Of  splendor  and  of  sacrifice. 

For  you  too  to  battle  go, 

Not  with  the  marching  drums  and  cheers, 

But  in  the  watch  of  solitude 

And  through  the  boundless  night  of  fears. 

And  not  a  shot  comes  blind  with  death 
And  not  a  stab  of  steel  is  pressed 
Home,  but  invisibly  it  tore 
And  entered  first  a  woman's  breast. 


MOTHERING 

LIEUTENANT  H.  BUCHANAN  RYLEY 

"  He  who  goes  a-mothering  finds  violets  in  the  lane." — Old 
Proverb. 

"Oh,  whirl  of  leaves.  Oh,  sobbing  breeze, 
About  the  gates  of  spring. 
When  the  west  wind  brings  the  exiles  home 

From  weary  wandering; 
And  down  the  rut-worn  way  they  haste  — 

God,  but  their  feet  are  fain! 
And  he  who  goes  a-mothering 
Finds  violets  in  the  lane. 


188  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

"Dear  Lord,  throw  open  wide  Thy  doors 

For  souls  to  enter  in ! 
The  bitter  exile  over-past 

The  home-time  shall  begin! 
Loved  hands  and  lips  draw  nigh  again 

To  welcome  and  to  bless, 
And  the  half -forgotten  days  renew 

Their  springtime  loveliness. 

"Oh,  the  violets  round  the  Tree  of  Life, 
Sweet  violets  roimd  the  brim 
Of  ever-welling  water-floods 
Where  day  grows  never  dim; 

Where  tears  are  dried,  and  dead  hopes  raised, 

And  so  for  you  and  me 
Our  hearts  shall  go  a-mothering 

For  all  eternity!" 

(This  poem  written  by  Lieutenant  Ryley  was  recently  sent  to  The 
Living  Church  as  his  last  production,  with  the  words:  "I  have  lost  two 
sons  in  this  hellish  war  and  expect  to  fall  myself.  But  always  my 
heart  is  in  U.  S.  A.,  though  my  duty  is  on  the  firing  line."  He  was 
killed  near  Jerusalem,  December  15,  191 7.) 

TO  A   MOTHER 

EDEN   PHILLPOTTS 
Robbed  mother  of  the  stricken  Motherland — 
Two  hearts  in  one  and  one  among  the  dead. 
Before  your  grave  with  an  uncovered  head 
I,  that  am  man,  disquiet  and  silent  stand 
In  reverence.     It  is  your  blood  they  shed; 
It  is  your  sacred  self  that  they  demand. 
For  one  you  bore  in  joy  and  hope,  and  planned 
Would  make  yourself  eternal,  now  has  fled. 


ANY   WOMAN   TO  A   SOLDIER  189 

But  though  you  yielded  him  unto  the  knife 

And  altar  with  a  royal  sacrifice 
Of  your  most  precious  self  and  dearer  life — 

Your  master  gem  and  pearl  above  all  price — 
Content  you;  for  the  dawn  this  night  restores 
Shall  be  the  day  spring  of  his  soul  and  yours. 

ANY  WOMAN   TO  A  SOLDIER 

GRACE    ELLERY   CHANNING 
The  day  you  march  away — let  the  sun  shine, 
Let  everything  be  blue  and  gold  and  fair, 
Triumph  of  trumpets  calling  through  bright  air, 
Flags  slanting,  flowers  flaunting — not  a  sign 
That  the  unbearable  is  now  to  bear, 
The  day  you  march  away. 

The  day  you  march  away — this  I  have  sworn, 

No  matter  what  comes  after,  that  shall  be 

Hid  secretly  between  my  soul  and  me 

As  women  hide  the  unborn — 

You  shall  see  brows  like  banners,  lips  that  frame 

Smiles,  for  the  pride  those  lips  have  in  your  name. 

You  shall  see  soldiers  in  my  eyes  that  day — 

That  day,  my  soldier,  when  you  march  away. 

The  day  you  march  away — cannot  I  guess? 
There  will  be  ranks  and  ranks,  all  leading  on 
To  one  white  face,  and  then — the  white  face  gone, 
And  nothing  left  but  a  gray  emptiness — 
Blurred  moving  masses,  faceless,  featureless — 
The  day  you  march  away. 


I90  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

You  cannot  march  away !     However  far, 
Farther  and  faster  still  I  shall  have  fled 
Before  you;  and  that  moment  when  you  land, 
Voiceless,  invisible,  close  at  your  hand 
My  heart  shall  smile,  hearing  the  steady  tread 
Of  your  faith-keeping  feet. 

First  at  the  trenches  I  shall  be  to  greet; 
There's  not  a  watch  I  shall  not  share  with  you; 
But  more — but  most — there  where  for  you  the  red. 
Drenched,  dreadful,  splendid,  sacrificial  field  lifts  up 
Inflexible  demand, 

I  will  be  there! 

My  hands  shall  hold  the  cup. 

My  hands  beneath  your  head 

Shall  bear  you — not  the  stretcher  bearer's — through 

All  anguish  of  the  dying  and  the  dead ; 

With  all  your  wounds  I  shall  have  ached  and  bled, 

Waked,  thirsted,  starved,  been  fevered,  gasped  for  breath, 

Felt  the  death  dew; 

And  you  shall  live,  because  my  heart  has  said 

To  Death 

That  Death  itself  shall  have  no  part  in  you! 


LABOR  MUST  BEAR  ITS  PART^ 

WOODROW    WILSON 

While  we  are  fighting  for  freedom  we  must  see,  among 
other  things,  that  labor  is  free,  and  that  means  a  number 
of  interesting  things.  It  means  not  only  that  we  must 
do  what  we  have  declared  our  purpose  to  do — see  that 
the  conditions  of  labor  are  not  rendered  more  onerous 
by  the  war — but  also  that  we  shall  see  to  it  that  the 
instrumentalities  by  which  the  conditions  of  labor  are 
improved  are  not  blocked  nor  checked. 

To  "stand  together"  means  that  nobody  must  inter- 
rupt the  processes  of  our  energy  if  the  interruption  can 
possibly  be  avoided  without  the  absolute  invasion  of 
freedom.  Nobody  has  a  right  to  stop  the  processes  of 
labor  until  all  the  methods  of  conciliation  and  settlement 
have  been  exhausted. 

In  order  to  clear  the  atmosphere  and  come  down  to 
business,  everybody  on  both  sides  has  got  to  transact 
business,  and  the  settlement  is  never  impossible  when 
both  sides  want  to  do  the  square  and  right  thing.  More- 
over, a  settlement  is  always  hard  to  avoid  when  the  parties 
can  be  brought  face  to  face.  I  can  differ  with  a  man 
much  more  radically  when  he  is  n't  in  the  room  than  I 
can  when  he  is  in  the  room,  because  then  the  awkward 
thing  is  that  he  can  come  back  at  me  and  answer  what  I 
say.  It  is  always  dangerous  for  a  man  to  have  the  floor 
entirely  to  himself.  And,  therefore,  we  must  insist  in 
every  instance  that  the  parties  come  into  each  other's 
presence  and  there  discuss  the  issues  between  them,  and 

1  From  a  speech  delivered  November  12,  191 7. 

191 


192  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

not  separately  in  places  which  have  no  communication 
with  each  other. 

I  like  to  remind  myself  of  a  delightful  saying  of  an 
Englishman  of  a  past  generation,  Charles  Lamb.  He 
was  with  a  group  of  friends  and  he  spoke  harshly  of  some 
man  who  was  not  present.  I  ought  to  say  that  Lamb 
stuttered  a  little  bit.  And  one  of  his  friends  said,  "Why, 
Charles,  I  didn't  know  that  you  knew  So-and-so?" 
"Oh,"  he  said,  "I  don't.     I  can't  hate  a  man  I  know." 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  human  nature,  of  very  pleasant 
human  nature,  in  that  saying.  It  is  hard  to  hate  a  man 
you  know.  I  may  admit,  parenthetically,  that  there  are 
some  politicians  whose  methods  I  do  not  at  all  believe  in, 
but  they  are  jolly  good  fellows,  and  if  they  would  not  talk 
the  wrong  kind  of  politics  with  me  I  would  love  to  be  with 
them.  And  so  it  is  all  along  the  line,  in  serious  matters 
and  things  less  serious.  We  are  all  of  the  same  clay  and 
spirit,  and  we  can  get  together  if  we  desire  to  get  together. 

Therefore  my  counsel  to  you  is  this :  Let  us  show  our- 
selves Americans  by  showing  that  we  do  not  want  to  go 
off  in  separate  camps  or  groups  by  ourselves,  but  that  we 
want  to  cooperate  with  all  other  classes  and  all  other 
groups  in  a  common  enterprise,  which  is  to  release  the 
spirits  of  the  world  from  bondage.  I  would  be  willing 
to  set  that  up  as  the  final  test  of  an  American.  That  is 
the  meaning  of  democracy. 

We  claim  to  be  the  greatest  democratic  people  in  the 
world,  and  democracy  means,  first  of  all,  that  we  can 
govern  ourselves.  If  our  men  have  not  self-control, 
then  they  are  not  capable  of  that  great  thing  which  we 
call  democratic  government.  A  man  who  takes  the  law 
into  his  own  hands  is  not  the  right  man  to  cooperate  in 


LABOR   MUST   BEAR   ITS   PART  193 

any  form  of  orderly  development  of  law  and  institutions. 
And  some  of  the  processes  by  which  the  struggle  between 
capital  and  labor  is  carried  on  are  processes  that  come  very 
near  to  taking  the  law  into  your  own  hands.  I  do  not 
mean  for  a  moment  to  compare  them  with  what  I  have 
just  been  speaking  of,  but  I  want  you  to  see  that  they  are 
mere  gradations  of  the  manifestations  of  the  unwillingness 
to  cooperate.  The  fundamental  lesson  of  the  whole 
situation  is  that  we  must  not  only  take  common  counsel, 
but  that  we  must  yield  to  and  obey  common  counsel. 
Not  all  of  the  instrumentalities  for  this  are  at  hand. 

I  am  hopeful  that  in  the  very  near  future  new  instru- 
mentalities may  be  organized  by  which  we  can  see  to  it 
that  various  things  that  are  now  going  on  shall  not  go  on. 
There  are  various  processes  of  the  dilution  of  labor  and 
the  unnecessary  substitution  of  labor  and  bidding  in 
different  markets  and  unfairly  upsetting  the  whole  com- 
petition of  labor  which  ought  not  to  go  on  —  I  mean  now, 
on  the  part  of  employers  —  and  we  must  interject  into 
this  some  instrumentality  of  cooperation  by  which  the 
fair  thing  will  be  done  all  around. 

I  am  hopeful  that  some  such  instrumentalities  may  be 
devised,  but  whether  they  are  or  not,  we  must  use  those 
that  we  have  and  upon  every  occasion  where  it  is  neces- 
sary have  such  an  instrumentality  originated  upon  that 
occasion,  if  necessary. 

And  so,  my  fellow-citizens,  the  reason  that  I  came 
away  from  Washington  is  that  I  sometimes  get  lonely 
down  there  —  there  are  so  many  people  in  Washington 
who  know  things  that  are  not  so,  and  there  are  so  few 
people  in  Washington  who  know  anything  about  what  the 
people  of  the  United  States  are  thinking  about.  I  have 
14 


194  THE   vSPIRIT   OP   DEMOCRACY 

to  come  away  to  get  reminded  of  the  rest  of  the  country. 
I  have  come  away  to  talk  to  men  who  are  up  against  the 
real  thing  and  say  to  them,  I  am  with  you  if  you  are  with 
me.  The  only  test  of  being  with  me  is  not  to  think  about 
me  personally  at  all,  but  merely  to  think  of  me  as  the 
expression  for  the  time  being  of  the  power  and  dignity  and 
hope  of  the  American  people. 

THE   KEEPERS   OF   THE   LIGHT 

THEODOSIA   GARRISON 

We  are  the  keepers  of  that  steadfast  light 
That  guides  a  people's  course  and  destiny; 
Not  ours  the  skill  directing  over  the  sea 
The  mighty  beams  that  blaze  the  path  aright : 
Ours  but  the  hands  that,  serving,  keep  it  bright, 
The  bringers  of  the  oil,  the  workers  we 
Who  day  long,  without  pause  and  faithfully. 
Toil  that  its  radiance  may  pierce  the  night. 

Above  us  are  the  wills  that  guide  and  turn; 
It  is  not  ours  to  watch  nor  question  these: 
Ours  but  to  see  each  wick  is  trimmed  and  fit, 
Lest  on  a  night  of  storm  it  fails  to  burn 
And  a  Great  Ship  goes  down  in  awful  seas. 
O  Keepers  of  the  light,  keep  faith  with  it! 

A   SONG   OF   SERVICE 

THEODOSIA   GARRISON 

Folly  and  Complacency  went  singing  through  the  dark, 
They  paused  before  a  window  that  showed  a  candle's 
spark. 


A   SONG   OF   SERVICE  195 

"Come  forth,  come  forth  and  join  us  or  bid  us  entrance 


win!' 


"Nay,  I've  a  wheel  a-tuming  and  I  have  wool  to  spin; 
Unless  your  hands  may  aid  me  ye  shall  not  enter  in." 

Folly  and  Complacency  went  singing  through  the  night; 

They  paused  before  a  casement  that  showed  a  shining 

light. 
"Now  bid  us  in,  old  Comrade,  to  revel  until  day!" 
"Nay,  I've  a  sword  to  sharpen  to  keep  a  foe  at  bay; 
•Unless  your  hands  may  aid  me  I  speed  you  on  your  way." 

Oh,   there   are   swords   to   sharpen    and    there   is   wool 

to  spin, 
And  woe  betide  the  foolish  ones  who  let  these  wastrels  in ! 
At  the  cost  of  a  dulled  sword  a  people  may  be  sold ; 
For  lack  of  warmth  a  nation  may  perish  in  the  cold. 
And  unto  us  the  reckoning  and  price  thereof  be  told. 

Folly  and  Complacency  —  on  our  heads  be  the  sin 

If  once  our  hands  should  slacken,  our  voices  bid  you  in. 

While  there's  a  sword  to  sharpen,  while  there's  a  wheel 

to  turn, 
A  word  to  say,  a  prayer  to  pray,  a  signal  light  to  burn, 
God  give  us  strength  and  wakefulness  to  match  the  wage 

we  earn. 


MORE   THAN   A   NAME^ 

SAMUEL  GOMPERS 

To  me  the  term  America  is  more  than  a  name.  It  is 
more  than  a  countr}^  It  is  more  than  a  continent.  To 
me  America  is  the  apotheosis,  a  symbol  of  the  ideas  and 
the  ideals  for  human  betterment  and  himian  justice  among 
the  peoples  of  the  world.  Perhaps  it  may  be  strengthened 
by  the  hope,  but  somehow  there  is  a  sub-consciousness 
in  me  that  tells  me  that  when  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  world  a  Teutonic  army  shall  face  the  soldiers 
of  the  United  States  with  the  flag,  the  Star-Spangled 
Banner,  waving  above  them,  it  will  penetrate  the  very 
souls  of  the  men  in  the  German  uniform.  In  all  their 
fights  they  have  met  men  carrying  the  standards  that 
Germany  hated.  They  have  never  yet  come  in  contact 
with  Old  Glory. 

I  ought  to  say,  my  friends,  that  the  policy  pursued  by 
the  government  of  the  United  States  in  this  war,  in  matters 
of  development  and  growth  and  preparation,  amazes 
those  who  are  permitted  to  know  the  truth.  Some  day, 
my  friends,  you  and  I,  who  may  be  kept  from  all  the 
information  just  now,  will  know  what  marvels  America 
has  done  within  these  past  few  months.  And  then,  too, 
we  have  started  out  on  a  different  line  of  action  than  in 
any  previous  wars  in  which  we  or  any  of  the  other  coun- 
tries on  the  globe  have  entered.  It  is  to  the  honor  of 
the  committee  of  which  I  am  chairman,  that  the  bill  was 
drafted  which  provides  not  only  for  compensation  for 
injured  soldiers  and  sailors  and  for  their  dependents,  but 
^  From  a  speech  delivered  at  Bxiffalo,  September  14,  191 7. 

196 


Copyright  by  Clinedinst 


Samuel  Gompers 


MORE   THAN   A    NAME  197 

also  insurance,  so  that  if  any  of  the  men  come  back 
injured  they  at  least  shall  have  the  insurance  to  give 
them  and  their  dependents  an  opportunity  to  live  in 
some  degree  of  comfort,  and  the  opportunity  of  increas- 
ing their  pay  so  that  they  can  afford  to  lay  something 
away  as  a  nest-egg  for  themselves  or  to  give  to  their 
families.  We  have  tried  to  formulate  a  measure  that 
shall  relieve  for  all  time  the  people  of  our  country  of  the 
scandals  and  the  injustice  of  the  old  pensions  system, 
taking  our  experience  as  to  the  difference  of  the  industrial 
and  employers'  liability  acts  and  the  substitution  of  com- 
pensation for  workmen  so  as  to  apply  it  to  the  soldiers 
and  the  sailors  of  Uncle  Sam.  We  hope  that  the  boys 
who  are  already  in  France  and  the  boys  who  are  going 
over  to  France  may  have  minds  free  from  the  worry  that 
their  families  may  possibly  go  down  in  the  standard  of 
life  prevalent  in  their  community.  We  want  the  boys  of 
Uncle  Sam  fighting  for  us  to  feel  that  America,  great 
America,  will  stand  by  them  or  those  they  may  possibly 
leave  behind  them.  And  I  am  proud  to  say  that  that 
measure  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  yesterday 
by  an  almost  unanimous  vote. 

We  do  not  know  now  just  exactly  what  sacrifices  we 
may  be  called  upon  to  make.  Let  us  pray  and  hope  and 
work  that  they  may  be  few,  if  any  at  all ;  but  this  we  feel 
assured  of,  from  the  President  down  to  everyone  aiding 
him  and  his  in  the  great  work  of  carrying  on  the  war,  it 
is  the  purpose  that  the  home  shall  be  maintained,  that  the 
standard  of  American  life  shall  not  go  down,  but  shall  be 
maintained  throughout  the  war. 

We  must  make  it  possible  that  our  fighting  force  shall  be 
provided  with  every  necessity  to  fight  and  every  means 


198  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

contributing  to  their  subsistence  and  comfort,  and  that 
the  American  people  shall  go  on  in  their  economic,  indus- 
trial, social  and  spiritual  life  just  as  well  as  it  is  possible 
to  do;  and  so,  when  it  is  necessary  to  make  additional 
sacrifices,  we  shall  —  you,  and  you,  and  you  —  the  people 
of  Chicago,  the  people  of  Illinois,  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  stand  as  one  solid  phalanx  of  the  manhood  and 
the  womanhood  of  the  people  of  our  country,  of  our 
republic,  united,  determined  to  stand  by  our  cause  and 
our  gallant  allies  until  the  world  has  been  made  safe  for 
freedom,  for  justice,  for  democracy,  for  humanity. 


WHAT   THE   STATE   IS 

SIR    WILLIAM    JONES 

"What  constitutes  a  state? 

Not  high-raised  battlement  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall  or  moated  gate ; 
Nor  cities  proud  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned ; 

Nor  bays  and  broad-armed  ports. 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride; 

Not  starred  and  spangled  courts. 
Where  low-browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 

No:  —men,  high-minded  men, 

Men  who  their  duties  know. 
But  know  their  rights,   and,  knowing,  dare  maintain," 


SOLDIERS   OF    FREEDOM  199 

vSOLDIERvS   OF   FREEDOM 

KATHARINE  LEE  BATES 

They  veiled  their  souls  with  laughter 

And  many  a  mocking  pose, 
These  lads  who  follow  after 

Wherever  Freedom  goes; 
These  lads  we  used  to  censure 

For  levity  and  ease, 
On  Freedom's  high  adventure 

Go  shining  overseas. 

Our  springing  tears  adore  them, 

These  boys  at  school  and  play. 
Fair-fortuned  years  before  them, 

Alas !  but  yesterday ; 
Divine  with  sudden  splendor 

—  Oh,  how  our  eyes  were  blind  !^ 
In  careless  self-surrender 

They  battle  for  mankind. 

Soldiers  of  Freedom!     Gleaming 

And  golden  they  depart, 
Transfigured  by  the  dreaming 

Of  boyhood's  hidden  heart. 
Her  lovers  they  confess  them 

And,  rushing  on  her  foes, 
Toss  her  their  youth  —  God  bless  them !  — 

As  lightly  as  a  rose. 


200  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

THE   KHAKI 

HENRY  EDWARD  WARNER 

I 

The  khaki,  the  khaki!     It  flows  in  solid  waves 

Over  the  tops  of  shell  holes,  over  the  tops  of  graves. 

Over  the  fields  of  Flanders,  on  to  the  Boche  line  — 

And  pride  shall  be  behind  them,  and  these  hot  tears  of 
mine! 

Tears  for  the  heroes  fallen,  smiles  for  the  men  gone  on, 

Cheers  for  the  stout,  brave  hearts  of  them  who  battle  for 

the  dawn  — 
The  dawn  of  earth's  new  freedom!     And  we  who  watch 

and  pray 
Will  grow  our  flowers  for  the  wreaths  of  khaki  sailed  away ! 

II 

The  khaki,  the  khaki!     O  Thou  who  seest  all. 

Keep  to  the  fore  with  khaki,  and  fend  the  shell  and  ball ! 

Strong  in  the  might  of  virtue,  strong  for  the  newborn 

light 
That  signals  freedom's  coming  day  and  scatters  hopeless 

night. 
The  khaki,  noble  khaki,  shall  sweep  o'er  Flanders  field, 
Driving  the  hatred  of  the  Hun  until  all  hell  shall  yield! 
And  Thou  who  guidest  planets  —  O  Pilot  of  the  soul!  — 
Thy  voice  shall  give  supreme  command.  Thy  peace  shall 

make  us  whole  I 


LESSONS   OF  THE  WAR^ 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

No  man  could  fail  to  be  thrilled  by  facing  an  audience 
like  this,  and  I  accept  your  greeting  as  not  for  me  per- 
sonally, but  for  the  thing  for  which  I  stand  —  for  Ameri- 
canism, one  flag,  one  country,  and  an  undivided  loyalty 
from  every  man  and  woman  in  this  land. 

We  have  a  double  right  and  double  duty  in  connection 
with  Americanism.  On  the  one  hand  to  suffer  no  dis- 
crimination against  any  man  because  of  his  birth  or  his 
creed,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  insist  that  no  man  has 
a  right  to  live  in  this  country  if  he  has  any  of  Lot's  wife 
attitude  of  looking  back  toward  another  country. 

In  the  days  of  the  Revolution  we  became  a  nation 
because  Washington  and  the  men  who  followed  him  in 
the  field,  and  the  men  who  signed  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  with  him,  because  those  men,  although 
predominantly  of  English  blood,  stood  straight  against 
England  and  for  America. 

That  lesson  does  not  teach  that  we  are  to  hate  England. 
It  is  a  mean  and  small  soul  who  draws  that  lesson  from  it. 
That  lesson  teaches  that  we  are  to  love  liberty  and  to  hate 
wrong,  and  stand  for  the  right  and  against  the  wrong  in 
each  crisis  as  it  comes  up.  The  men  of  English  descent 
in  1776  and  in  181 2  fought  England  because  England  was 
the  foe  of  liberty  and  of  America.  And  in  just  the  same 
way  we  have  a  right  to  demand,  not  as  a  favor,  but  as 
a  right,  that  every  man  of  German  descent  now  stand 

^  From  the  speech  delivered  at  Dexter  Pavilion,  Chicago,  September  8, 
1918. 

201 


202  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

shoulder  to  shoulder  with  his  fellow  Americans  against 
the  bloody  tyranny  of  the  Prussianized  autocracy  of 
Germany. 

And  now  in  this  country  the  events  of  the  last  three 
years  will  teach  us  much  if  we  have  the  wit  to  read  the 
lessons  aright.  There  must  be  in  this  country  one  flag, 
only  one  flag,  one  allegiance,  and  only  one  allegiance,  and 
one  language,  and  that  the  language  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  of  Washington's  farewell  address,  of 
Lincoln's  Gettysburg  speech,  and  President  Wilson's 
Message  to  Congress. 


AMERICA   RESURGENT 

WENDELL   PHILLIP  STAFFORD 

She  is  risen  from  the  dead! 

Loose  the  tongue  and  lift  the  head; 

Let  the  sons  of  light  rejoice, 
She  has  heard  the  challenge  clear; 
She  has  answered  "I  am  here"; 

She  has  made  the  stainless  choice. 

Bound  with  iron  and  with  gold  — 
But  her  limbs  they  could  not  hold 

When  the  word  of  words  was  spoken; 
Freedom  calls  — 
The  prison  walls 

Tumble,  and  the  bolts  are  broken! 

Hail  her !     She  is  ours  again  — 
Hope  and  heart  of  harassed  men 

And  the  tyrants'  doom  and  terror. 


IN   FORTY   WEST  203 

Send  abroad  the  old  alarms;         ^ 
Call  to  arms,  to  arms,  to  arms, 

Hand  of  doubt  and  feet  of  error! 

Cheer  her!     She  is  free  at  last, 
With  her  back  upon  the  past, 

With  her  feet  upon  the  bars. 
Hosts  of  freedom  sorely  prest, 
Lo,  a  light  is  in  the  west 

And  a  helmet  full  of  stars ! 

IN   FORTY   WEST 

We  are  coming  from  the  ranch;  from  the  city  and  the 

mine, 
And  the  word  has  gone  before  us  to  the  town  upon  the 
Rhine; 

As  the  rising  of  the  tide 
On  the  Old -World  side. 
We  are  coming  to  the  battle,  to  the  Line. 

From  the  valleys  of  Virginia,  from  the  Rockies  in  the 

North, 
We  are  coming  by  battalions,  for  the  word  was  carried 
forth : 

"We  have  put  the  pen  away 
And  the  sword  is  out  to-day. 
For  the  Lord  has  loosed  the  Vintages  of  Wrath." 

We  are  singing  in  the  ships  as  they  carry  us  to  fight, 
As  our  fathers  sang  before  ,us  by  the  camp-fires'  light ; 
In  the  wharf -light  glare. 
They  can  hear  us  Over  There, 
When  the  ships  come  streaming  through  the  night. 


204  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Right    across    the   deep   Atlantic    where    the    Lusitania 

passed, 
With  the  battle-flag  of  Yankee-land  a-floating  at  the  mast 

We  are  coming  all  the  while, 

Over  twenty  hundred  mile. 
And  we're  staying  to  the  finish,  to  the  last. 

We  are  many  —  we  are  one  —  and  we're  in  it  overhead, 
We  are  coming  as  an  army  that  has  seen  its  women  dead, 

And  the  old  Rebel  Yell 

Will  be  loud  above  the  shell 
When  we  cross  the  top  together,  seeing  red. 

— From  Blackwood's  Magazine 


SOLDIERS  ALL 

DANIEL    M.  HENDERSON 

"Fisherman,  mend  your  nets 
For  the  day's  trawling! 

Cod  and  menhaden  run 
Thick  for  your  hauling!" 

"  Yes,  hut  beyond  the  mists 
Bugles  are  calling!'' 

"Writer,  the  world  would  count 

You  with  its  sages ! 
Far  from  the  shock  of  war. 

Toil  for  the  ages!" 
No  —  /  must  write  my  life 

On  Freedom's  pages!" 


(( 


SOLDIERS  ALL  2*5 

"Surgeon,  you  cannot  go!  \ 

Hear  the  sick  pleading ! 
'T  is  not  for  such  as  you 

Bullets  are  speeding ! " 
''Hush — for  I  see  in  France 

Liberty  bleeding ! ' ' 

"Mother,  keep  back  your  lad, 

Tho  his  mates  scorn  him ! 
Better  their  jeers  than  that 

Your  heart  should  mourn  him!" 
''Cease — for  his  country's  cause 

My  arms  have  borne  him!" 

"Pastor,  now  more  and  more 

Men  need  your  preaching !  • 
How  shall  they  find  their  souls 

If  you  stop  teaching?" 
"  Yet,  on  His  battle-line 

God  is  beseeching ! ' ' 


COMRADES   IN   A   COMMON   CAUSE  ^ 

■  BISHOP    BRENT 

We  comrades  in  the  common  cause  have  come  together 
like  sturdy  Judas  Maccabseus  and  his  fellow  patriots  in 
the  ancient  story,  to  commit  our  decision  to  the  Lord  and 
place  ourselves  in  His  hands  before  we  pitch  our  camp 
and  go  forth  to  battle.  It  were  an  unworthy  cause  that 
we  could  not  commit  to  God  with  complete  confidence. 
Today  we  have  this  confidence. 

This,  I  venture  to  say,  is  not  merely  the  beginning  of  a 
new  era,  but  of  a  new  epoch.  At  this  moment  a  great 
nation,  well  skilled  in  self-sacrifice,  is  standing  by  with 
deep  sympathy  and  bidding  Godspeed  to  another  great 
nation  that  is  making  its  act  of  self-dedication  to  God. 
That  altar  upon  which  we  Americans  are  to-day  laying 
our  lives  and  our  fortunes  is  already  occupied.  After 
three  years  Great  Britain  and  her  allies  have  been  fight- 
ing not  merely  for  their  own  laws,  their  own  homes,  their 
liberty,  and  all  they  hold  sacred,  but  for  the  great  com- 
monwealth of  mankind. 

Today,  when  the  United  States  avow  their  intention  of 
giving  themselves  wholeheartedly  to  this  great  cause, 
the  battle  for  the  right  assumes  new  proportions.  A 
new  power  and  victory  —  aye,  a  victory  that  is  God's  is 
in  sight.  We  Americans  have  never  been  oblivious  to  the 
fact  that  the  people  of  this  country  have  been  standing 
for  the  same  principles  which  we  love  and  for  which  we 
live.  England,  thank  God,  is  the  mother  of  democracy, 
and  England's  children  come  back  today  to  pour  all  their 

1  From  a  speech  delivered  April  20th,  191 7,  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
London. 

206 


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BRITONS  AND   GUESTS  207 

experience,  the  experience  of  a  century  and  a  half  of 
independent  Hfe,  with  gratitude  at  the  feet  of  their 
mother. 

Today  we  stand  side  by  side  with  our  fellows  as  com- 
mon soldiers  in  the  common  fight.  There  have  been  great 
quarrels  in  the  past  that  were  results  of  misunderstanding, 
but  our  quarrel  with  Germany  is  not  based  on  misunder- 
standing. It  is  due  to  understanding.  Just  as  it  was 
understanding  that  made  us  break  with  Germany,  so  it 
is  understanding  which  makes  us  take  our  place  by  the 
side  of  the  Allies.  It  would  haye  -been  impossible  for  us 
to  do  otherwise. 

This  act  of  America  has  enabled  her  to  find  her  soul. 
America,  which  stands  for  democracy,  must  champion 
the  cause  of  tbe  plain  people  at  all  costs.  The  plain  people 
most  desire  peace.  That  is  what  America  with  the  Allies 
is  fighting  for.  She  thinks  so  much  of  peace  that  she  is 
ready  to  pay  the  cost  of  war.  Our  war  today  is  that  we 
may  destroy  war.  One  thing  to  do  with  war  is  to  hunt  it 
to  its  death  and,  please  God,  in  this  war  we  shall  achieve 
our  purpose. 

BRITONS   AND   GUESTS! 

EDITH    M.    THOMAS 

We  fought  you  once  —  but  that  was  long  ago ! 

We  fought  you  once,  O  Briton  hearts  of  oak; 

Away  from  you  —  from  parent  stock  —  we  broke. 
Be  glad  we  did !     Because  from  every  blow 
We  hurled  in  that  old  day  a  force  did  grow 

That  now  shall  stead  you,  level  stroke  by  stroke  — 

So  Heaven  help  us,  who  but  late  awoke, 
The  charge  upon  our  common  race  to  know ! 


208  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

And  we  will  stand  with  you,  the  world  to  save  — 

To  make  it  safe  for  Freedom  (as  we  free  have  been) . 
Have  you  not  seen  our  mutual  banners  wave 
As  one  upon  the  wind  —  a  sight  most  brave !   .    .    . 
We  once  did  fight  you  ev'n  as  next  of  kin 
May  cleave  apart,  at  end  to  closer  win! 

CHRIST  IN   FLANDERS 

A    BRITISH    SOLDIER 

We  had  forgotten  You  qr  very  nearly, 
You  did  not  seem  to  touch  us  very  nearly. 

Of  course  we  thought  about  You  now  and  then 
Especially  in  any  time  of  trouble, 
We  know  that  You  were  good  in  time  of  trouble 

But  we  are  very  ordinary  men. 

And  there  were  always  other  things  to  think  of, 
There's  lots  of  things  a  man  has  got  to  think  of, 

His  work,  his  home,  his  pleasure  and  his  wife, 
And  so  we  only  thought  of  You  on  Sunday ; 
Sometimes  perhaps  not  even  on  a  Sunday 

Because  there 's  always  lots  to  fill  one's  life. 

And  all  the  while,  in  street  or  lane  or  b5rway 
In  country  lane,  in  city  street  or  byway 

You  walked  among  us,  and  we  did  not  see. 
Your  feet  were  bleeding,  as  You  walked  our  pavements; 
How  did  we  miss  Your  foot-prints  on  our  pavements: 

Can  there  be  other  folk  as  blind  as  we? 

Now  we  remember  over  here  in  Flanders 
(It  isn't  strange  to  think  of  You  in  Flanders) 
This  hideous  warfare  seems  to  make  things  clear, 


ONWARD'    CHRISTIAN   SOLDIERS  209 

We  never  thought  about  You  much  in  England 
But  now  that  we  are  far  away  from  England 
We  have  no  doubts — we  know  that  You  are  here. 

You  helped  us  pass  the  jest  along  the  trenches 
Where,  in  cold  blood,  we  waited  in  the  trenches. 

You  touched  its  ribaldry  and  made  it  fine. 
You  stood  beside  us  in  our  pain  and  weakness. 
We're  glad  to  think  You  understand  our  weakness. 

Somehow  it  seems  to  help  us  not  to  whine. 

We  think  about  You  kneeling  in  the  Garden  — 
Ah!  God,  the  agony  of  that  dread  Garden; 

We  know  you  prayed  for  us  upon  the  Cross. 
If  anything  could  make  us  glad  to  bear  it 
'Twould  be  the  knowledge,  that  You  willed  to  bear  it  — 

Pain,  death,  the  uttermost  of  human  loss. 

Tho'  we  forgot  You,  You  will  not  forget  us. 
We  feel  so  sure  that  You  will  not  forget  us. 

But  stay  with  us  until  this  dream  is  past — 
And  so  we  ask  for  coiu-age,  strength,  and  pardon, 
Especially  I  think,  we  ask  for  pardon. 

And  that  You  '11  stand  beside  us  to  the  last. 


ONWARD,   CHRISTIAN   SOLDIERS 

S.  BARING-GOULD 

Onward,  Christian  soldiers. 

Marching  as  to  war; 
With  the  cross  of  Jesus 

Going  on  before. 

15 


210 


THE   SPIRIT    OF    DEMOCRACY 

Christ,  the  royal  Master, 

Leads  against  the  foe: 
Forward  into  battle, 

See,  His  banners  go. 

Like  a  mighty  army 

Moves  the  Church  of  God; 
Brothers,  we  are  treading 

Where  the  saints  have  trod ; 
We  are  not  divided. 

All  one  body  we, 
One  in  hope  and  doctrine. 

One  in  charity. 

Crowns  and  thrones  may  perish. 

Kingdoms  wax  and  wane, 
But  the  Church  of  Jesus 

Constant  will  remain ; 
Gates  of  hell  can  never 

'Gainst  that  Church  prevail; 
We  have  Christ's  own  promise, 

And  that  cannot  fail. 

Onward,  then,  ye  people. 

Join  our  happy  throng; 
Blend  with  ours  your  voices 

In  the  triumph-song; 
Glory,  laud,  and  honor, 

Unto  Christ  the  King; 
This  through  countless  ages 

Men  and  angels  sing. 


ENGLAND'S   CASE 

HERBERT    H.  ASQUITH 

The  War  which  is  now  shaking  to  its  foundations  the 
whole  European  system  originated  in  a  quarrel  in  which 
this  country  had  no  direct  concern.  We  strove  with  all 
our  might  to  prevent  its  outbreak,  and  when  that  was  no 
longer  possible,  to  limit  its  area.  It  is  all  important  that 
it  should  be  clearly  understood  when  and  why  it  was  that 
we  intervened.  It  was  only  when  we  were  confronted 
with  the  choice  between  keeping  and  breaking  solemn 
obligations,  between  the  discharge  of  a  binding  trust  and 
of  shameless  subservience  to  naked  force,  that  we  threw 
away  the  scabbard.  We  do  not  repent  our  decision. 
The  issue  was  one  which  no  great  and  self-respecting 
nation,  certainly  none  bred  and  nurtured  like  ourselves, 
in  this  ancient  home  of  liberty,  could,  without  undying 
shame,  have  declined.  We  were  bound  by  our  obliga- 
tions, plain  and  paramount,  to  assert  and  maintain  the 
threatened  independence  of  a  small  and  neutral  state. 
Belgium  had  no  interests  of  her  own  to  serve,  save  and 
except  the  one  supreme  and  ever-widening  interest  of 
every  state,  great  or  little,  which  is  worthy  of  the  name, 
the  preservation  of  her  integrity  and  of  her  national  life. 

CANADA  TO  ENGLAND 

WILFRED    CAMPBELL 
England,  England,  England, 

Girdled  by  ocean  and  skies. 
And  the  power  of  a  world,  and  the  heart  of  a  race, 

And  a  hope  that  never  dies ! 

211 


212  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

England,  England,  England, 

Wherever  a  true  heart  beats, 
Wherever  the  armies  of  commerce  flow, 
Wherever  the  bugles  of  conquest  blow, 
Wherever  the  glories  of  liberty  grow, 

'T  is  the  name  that  the  world  repeats. 

North  and  South  and  East  and  West, 

Wherever  their  triumphs  be, 
Their  glory  goes  home  to  the  ocean-girt  Isle 
Where  the  heather  blooms  and  the  roses  smile. 

With  the  green  Isle  under  her  lee. 
And  if  ever  the  smoke  of  an  alien  gun 

Should  threaten  her  iron  repose. 
Shoulder  to  shoulder  against  the  world. 

Face  to  face  with  her  foes, 
Scot  and  Celt  and  Saxon  are  one, 

Where  the  glory  of  England  goes. 
*  *  * 

Till  the  last  great  freedom  is  found, 

And  the  last  great  truth  be  taught. 
Till  the  last  great  deed  be  done, 

And  the  last  great  battle  is  fought ; 
Till  the  last  great  fighter  is  slain  in  the  last  great  fight, 

And  the  war- wolf  is  dead  in  his  den, 
England,  breeder  of  hope  and  valour  and  might. 

Iron  mother  of  men ! 

Yea,  England,  England,  England, 

Till  honour  and  valour  are  dead. 
Till  the  world's  great  cannons  rust. 
Till  the  world's  great  hopes  are  dust. 

Till  faith  and_freedom  be  fled; 


AUSTRALIA   TO   ENGLAND  213 

Till  wisdom  and  justice  have  passed  \ 

To  sleep  with  those  who  sleep  in  the  many-chambered 

vast, 
Till  glory  and  knowledge  are  chamelled,  dust  in  dust, 
To  all  that  is  best  in  the  world's  unrest 
In  heart  and  mind  you  are  wed: — 

While  out  from  the  Indian  jungle 

To  the  far  Canadian  snows. 
Over  the  east  and  over  the  west, 
Over  the  worst  and  over  the  best, 
The  flag  of  the  world  to  its  winds  unfurled, 

The  blood-red  ensign  blows. 


AUSTRALIA  TO    ENGLAND 

ARCHIBALD    T.  STRONG 

By  all  the  deeds  to  thy  dear  glory  done. 
By  all  the  life  blood  spilt  to  serve  thy  need, 
By  all  the  fettered  lives  thy  touch  hath  freed. 

By  all  thy  dream  in  us  anew  begun; 

By  all  the  guerdon  English  sire  to  son 

Hath  given  of  highest  vision,  kingliest  deed, 
By  all  thine  agony,  of  God  decreed 

For  trial  and  strength,  our  fate  with  thine  is  one. 

Still  dwells  thy  spirit  in  our  hearts  and  lips, 
Honotu*  and  life  we  hold  from  none  but  thee. 
And  if  we  live  thy  pensioners  no  more 

But  seek  a  nation's  might  of  men  and  ships, 
'T  is  but  that  when  the  world  is  black  with  war 

Thy  sons  may  stand  beside  thee  strong  and  free. 


214  THE    SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

INDIA  TO   ENGLAND 

NIZAMAT  JUNG 
0  England !  in  thine  hour  of  need, 
When  Faith's  reward  and  valor's  meed 

Is  death  or  glory, 
When  Faith  indites,  with  biting  brand, 
Clasped  in  each  warrior's  stiffening  hand, 

A  nation's  story; 

Though  weak  our  hands,  which  fain  would  clasp 
The  warrior's  sword  wnth  warrior's  grasp 

On  victory's  field; 
Yet  turn,  0  mighty  Mother!  turn 
Unt3  the  million  hearts  that  burn 

To  be  thy  shield. 

Thine  equal  justice,  mercy,  grace 
Have  made  a  distant  alien  race 

A  part  of  thee. 
'T  was  thine  to  bid  their  souls  rejoice 
When  first  they  heard  the  living  voice 

Of  Liberty. 

Unmindful  of  their  ancient  name. 
And  lost  to  honor  —  glory — fame, 

And  sunk  in  strife. 
Thou  found  them,  whom  thy  touch  hath  made 
Men,  and  to  whom  thy  breath  conveyed 

A  nobler  life. 

They,  whom  thy  love  hath  guarded  long; 
They,  whom  thy  care  hath  rendered  strong 
In  love  and  faith, 


A    MESSAGE    TO    IRELAND  215 

Their  heartstrings  round  thy  heart  entwine, 
They  are,  they  ever  will  be,  thine 
In  life  —  in  death. 


A   MEeSAGE   TO   IRELAND 

FLORENCE  GOFF 

Listen,  I'm  writin'  ye,  Jimmy  O'Flanigan, 
Sindin'  a  message  from  over  the  seas; 

Shame  to  ould  Ireland  and  all  of  her  fightin'  men ! 
Faith,  'tis  no  time  to  go  weak  in  the  knees. 

Shades  of  St.  Patrick,  but  I  must  confess  to  ye, 

Much  as  I  love  the  ould  Emerald  sod, 
I,  Mike  O'Brien,  am  wishin'  bad  cess  to  ye 
,     Shirkin'  your  duty  to  freedom  and  God. 

Quit  your  shenanigan,  with  the  world  riotin'; 

Sure  'tis  an  Irishman's  time  to  fall  in; 
When  the  war's  over  thin  talk  about  quietin' 

England's  oppression,  but  now  't  is  a  sin. 

Faith,  't  is  the  Kaiser  himself  would  be  rulin'  ye. 

Niver  swap  horses  whin  crossin'  a  stream; 
Turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  traitor  that 's  foolin'  ye, 

Jimmy,  belave  me,  't  is  no  idle  dream. 

Here  in  America,  where  they  are  feedin'  us, 
Faith,  there  are  men  that  the  devil  can't  scare; 

Ready  to  wallop  the  brute  that  is  bleedin'  us, 
Ready  to  follow  —  the  devil  knows  where. 


2i6  THE  SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Shame  to  ye,  shame  to  ye,  Jimmy  O'Flanigan, 
Roustin'  conscription.     Come  on  wid  the  b'ys; 

Let  the  ould  Kaiser  know  Paddy's  a  man  agin; 
Sure  't  is  ould^^Ireland  can  blacken  his  eyes. 

GOING   HOME 

ROBERT  W.  SERVICE 

I  'm  goin'  'ome  to  Blighty  —  ain't  I  glad  to  'ave  the  chance ! 
I  'm  loaded  up  wiv  fightin',  and  I  've  'ad  my  fill  o'  France; 
I  'm  feelin'  so  excited-like,  I  want  to  sing  and  dance. 
For  I'm  goin'  'ome  to  Blighty  in  the  mawnin'. 

I'm  goin'  'ome  to  Blighty;  can  you  wonder  as  I'm  gay? 
I  've  got  a  wound  I  would  n't  sell  for  'alf  a  year  o'  pay  — 
A  harm  that's  smashed  to  jelly  in  the  nicest  sort  o'  way. 
For  it  takes  me  'ome  to  Blighty  in  the  mawnin'.    ' 

'Ow  everlastin'  keen  I  was  on  gettin'  to  the  front ! 
I'd  ginger  for  a  dozen,  and  I  'elped  to  bear  the  brunt; 
But  Cheese  and  Crust!     I'm  crazy,  now  I've  done  me 
little  stunt. 
To  sniff  the  air  of  Blighty  in  the  mawnin'. 

I  've  looked  upon  the  wine  that 's  white  and  on  the  wine 

that's  red; 
I've  looked  on  cider  flowin',  till  it  fairly  turned  me  'ead; 
But  oh,  the  finest  scoff  will  be,  when  all  is  done  and  said, 
A  pint  o'  Bass  in  Blighty  in  the  mawnin'. 

I'm  goin'  back  to  Blighty,  which  I  left  to  strafe  the  'Un; 
I've  fought  in  bloody  battles,  and  I've  'ad  a  'eap  of  fun; 


^ 


GOING   HOME  217 

But  now  me  flipper's  busted,  and  I  thiiik  me  dooty's 
done, 
And  I  '11  kiss  me  gel  in  Blighty  in  the  mawnin'. 

Oh,  there  be  furrin'  lands  to  see,  and  some  of  'em  be  fine, 
And  there  be  furrin'  gels  to  kiss,  and  scented  furrin'  wine; 
But  there's  no  land  like  England,  and  no  other  gel  like 
mine. 
Thank  Gawd  for  dear  old  Blighty  in  the  mawnin'. 


CANADA   STANDS  FAST^ 

SIR  ROBERT  LAIRD  BORDEN 

I  am  proud  of  the  part  that  Canada  has  played  in  this 
war.  It  was  due  to  the  fact  that  her  sons  stood  in  the 
way  that  the  path  to  Calais  was  not  opened.  We  were 
a  peaceful  people,  absorbed  in  the  peaceful  vocations  of 
life  before  the  outbreak  of  this  war;  but  we  have  since 
proved  that  when  the  call  came  to  fight  we  were  ready 
and  willing  to  respond. 

And  now  that  we  have  made  great  sacrifices  and  have 
sent  our  sons  to  the  defense  of  the  Empire,  there  is  one 
thing  that  I  desire  to  say  to  you:  Canada  is  as  deter- 
mined to  maintain  the  cause  to  the  end  as  it  was  when 
this  war  began.  While  we  all  pray  for  peace  and  hope 
that  it  be  not  long  deferred,  so  long  as  we  in  Canada  have 
a  voice  there  will  be  no  truce,  nor  an  inconclusive  peace. 

Something  depends  on  the  principles  for  which  this  war 
has  been  fought,  and  we  in  Canada  believe  that  all  our 
sacrifices  will  have  been  in  vain  unless  these  principles, 
the  principles  for  which  we  have  fought,  principles  for 
civilization  and  right,  as  we  understand  them,  are  main- 
tained and  are  made  triumphant.  If  those  principles  are 
maintained  we  will  emerge  from  the  war  purified  and 
triumphant.  But  if  it  is  to  mean  only  a  truce  and  a  prepa- 
ration for  another  war,  then,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned, 
it  were  much  better  that  we  had  never  fought  at  all. 

We  have  fought  for  certain  principles  and  we  mean  to 
maintain  them  to  the  end.  Last  week  I  looked  into  the 
keen,   intent  faces  of   10,000   Canadian  soldiers  within 

^From  speeches  delivered  by  Sir  Robert  Laird  Borden. 

218 


Copyright  by  Underwood   &   Underwood 

Sir  Robert  Laird  Borden 


TO   CANADA  219 

sound  and  range  of  the  German  guns.  Thi-ee  days  ago  I 
looked  into  the  undaunted  eyes  of  1,000  Canadian  con- 
valescents returned  from  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death.  In  the  eyes  and  in  the  faces  of  those  men  I  read 
only  one  message,  that  of  resolute  and  unflinching  deter- 
mination to  make  our  cause  triumphant,  to  preserve  our 
institutions  and  our  liberties,  to  maintain  the  unity  of 
our  Empire  and  its  influence  through  the  world.  That 
message  I  bring  to  you  also  from  the  great  Dominion  which 
has  sent  those  men  across  the  sea.  While  the  awful 
shadow  of  this  war  overhangs  our  Empire  I  shall  not 
pause  to  speak  of  what  may  be  evolved  in  its  constitu- 
tional relations.  Upon  what  has  been  built  in  the  past, 
it  is  possible,  in  my  judgment,  that  an  even  nobler  and 
more  enduring  fabric  may  be  erected.  That  structure 
must  embody  the  autonomy  of  the  self-governing  Domin- 
ions and  of  the  British  Isles  as  well,  but  it  must  embody 
also  the  majesty  and  power  of  an  Empire,  and  be  more 
thoroughly  and  effectively  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
preserving  its  own  existence. 


TO   CANADA 

KATHARINE  LEE  BATES 

Our  neighbor  of  the  undefended  bound. 

Friend  of  the  hundred  years  of  peace,  our  kin, 

Fellow  adventurer  on  the  enchanted  ground 
Of  the  New  World,  must  not  the  pain  within 

Our  hearts  for  this  vast  anguish  of  the  war 
Be  keenest  for  your  pain?     Is  not  our  grief, 


220  THE   SPIRIT   OFi_DEMOCRACY 

That  aches  with  all  bereavement,  tenderest  for 
The  tragic  crimson  on  your  maple-leaf? 

Bitter  our  lot,  in  this  world-clash  of  faiths, 

To  stand  aloof  and  bide  our  hour  to  serve ; 
The  glorious  dead  are  living;  we  are  wraiths, 

Dim  watchers  of  the  conflict's  changing  curve, 
Yet  proud  for  human  valor,  spirit  true 

In  scorn  of  body,  manhood  on  the  crest 
Of  consecration,  dearly  proud  for  you, 

Who  sped  to  arms  like  knighthood  to  the  quest. 

From  quaint  Quebec  to  stately  Montreal, 

Along  the  rich  St.  Lawrence,  o'er  the  steep 
Roofs  of  the  Rockies  rang  the  bugle-call. 

And  east  and  west,  deep  answering  to  deep, 
Your  sons  surged  forth,  the  simple,  stooping  folk 

Of  shop  and  wheatfield  sprung  to  hero  size 
Swiftly  as  e'er  your  northern  lights  awoke 

To  streaming  splendor  quiet  evening  skies. 

Seek  not  your  lost  beneath  the  tortured  sod 

Of  France  and  Flanders,  where  in  desperate  strife 
They  battled  greatly  for  the  cause  of  God ; 

But  when  above  the  snow  your  heavens  are  rife 
With  those  upleaping  lustres,  find  them  there. 

Ardors  of  sacrifice,  celestial  sign, 
Atueole  your  angel  shall  forever  wear, 

Praising  the  irresistible  Divine. 


A   CRY   FROM   THE   CANADIAN   HILLS  221 

A   CRY   FROM   THE   CANADIAN  ^  HILLS 

LILIAN    LEVERIDGE 

Laddie,  little  laddie,  come  with  me  over  the  hills, 
Where  blossom  the  white  May  lilies,  and  the  dogwood  and 

daffodils ; 
For  the  Spirit  of  Spring  is  calling  to  our  spirits  that  love 

to  roam 
Over  the  hills  of  home,  laddie,  over  the  hills  of  home. 

Laddie,  little  laddie,  here's  hazel  and  meadow  rue, 

And  wreaths  of  the  rare  arbutus,  a-blowing  for  me  and 

you; 
And  cherry  and  bilberry  blossoms,  and  hawthorn  as  white 

as  foam, 
We'll  carry  them  all  to  Mother,  laddie,  over  the  hills  at 

home. 

Laddie,  little  laddie,  the  winds  have  many  a  song. 

And  blithely  and  bold  they  whistle  to  us  as  we  trip  along ; 

But  your  own  little  song  is  sweeter,  your  own  with  its 

merry  trills; 
So,  whistle  a  tune  as  you  go,  laddie,  over  the  windy  hills. 

Laddie,  little  laddie,  'tis  time  that  the  cows  were  home, 
Can  you  hear  the  klingle-klangle  of  their  bell  in  the  green- 
wood gloam? 
Old  Rover  is  waiting,  eager  to  follow  the  trail  with  you, 
Whistle  a  tune  as  you  go,  laddie,  whistle  a  tune  as  you  go. 

Laddie,  little  laddie,  there's  a  flash  of  a  bluebird's  wing. 
O  hush!     If  we  wait  and  listen  we  may  hear  him  caroling. 


222  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

The  vesper  song  of  the  thrushes,  and  the  plaint  of  the 

whip-poor-wills , 
Sweet,  how  sweet  is  the  music,  laddie,  over  the  twilit  hills. 

Brother,  little  brother,  your  childhood  is  passing  by. 
And  the  dawn  of  a  noble  purpose  I  see  in  your  thoughtful 

eye. 
You  have  many  a  mile  to  travel  and  many  a  task  to  do; 
Whistle  a  tune  as  you  go,  laddie,  whistle  a  tune  as  you  go. 

Laddie,  soldier  laddie,  a  call  comes  over  the  sea, 
A  call  to  the  best  and  bravest  in  the  land  of  liberty, 
To  shatter  the  despot's  power,  to  lift  up  the  weak  that  fall. 
Whistle  a  song  as  you  go,  laddie,  to  answer  your  country's 
call. 

Brother,  soldier  brother,  the  Spring  has  come  back  again, 

But  her  voice  from  the  windy  hilltops  is  calling  your 
name  in  vain; 

For  never  shall  we  together  'mid  the  birds  and  the  blos- 
soms roam, 

Over  the  hills  of  home,  brother,  over  the  hills  of  home. 

Laddie !    Laddie !    Laddie !    ' '  Somewhere  in  France ' '  you 

sleep, 
Somewhere  'neath  alien  flowers  and  alien  winds  that  weep. 
Bravely  you  marched  to  battle,  nobly  your  life  laid  down. 
You  unto  death  were  faithful,  laddie ;  yours  is  the  victor's 

crown. 

Laddie!     Laddie!     Laddie!     How   dim   is   the   sunshine 

grown, 
As  Mother  and  I  together  speak  softly  in  tender  tone! 


THE  RECKONING  223 

And  the  lips  that  quiver  and  falter  have  ever  a  single 

theme, 
As  we  list  for  your  dear,  lost  whistle,  laddie,  over  the 

hills  of  dream. 

Laddie,  beloved  laddie!     How  soon  should  we  cease  to 

weep 
Could  we  glance  through  the  golden  gateway  whose  keys 

the  angels  keep! 
Yet  love,  our  love  that  is  deathless,  can  follow  you  where 

you  roam, 
Over  the  hills  of  God,  laddie,  the  beautiful  hills  of  Home. 

THE   RECKONING 

THEODORE  GOODRIDGE  ROBERTS 
Ye  who  reckon  with  England  — 

Ye  who  sweep  the  seas 
Of  the  flag  that  Rodney  nailed  aloft 

And  Nelson  flung  to  the  breeze  — 
Count  well  your  ships  and  your  men. 

Count  well  your  horse  and  your  guns. 
For  they  who  reckon  with  England 

Must  reckon  with  England's  sons. 


fc>* 


Ye  who  would  challenge  England  — 

Ye  who  would  break  the  might 
Of  the  little  isle  in  the  foggy  sea 

And  the  lion-heart  in  the  fight  — 
Count  well  your  horse  and  your  swords. 

Weigh  well  your  valour  and  guns. 
For  they  who  would  ride  against  England 

Must  sabre  her  million  sons. 


224  THE   SPIRIT   OF    DEMOCRACY 

Ye  who  would  roll  to  warfare 

Your  hordes  of  peasants  and  slaves, 
To  crush  the  pride  of  an  empire 

And  sink  her  fame  in  the  waves  — 
Test  well  yoiu:  blood  and  your  mettle, 

Count  well  your  troops  and  your  guns, 
For  they  who  battle  with  England 

Must  war  with  a  Mother's  sons. 


A   LEAGUE   OF   NATIONS  ^ 

WOODROW   WILSON 

We  are  participants,  whether  we  would  or  not,  in  the 
life  of  the  world.  The  interests  of  all  nations  are  our  own 
also.  We  are  partners  with  the  rest.  What  affects  man- 
kind is  inevitably  our  afTair  as  well  as  the  affair  of  the 
nations  of  Europe  and  of  Asia. 

Only  when  the  great  nations  of  the  world  have  reached 
'some  sort  of  agreement  as  to  what  they  hold  to  be  funda- 
mental to  their  common  interest,  and  as  to  some  feasible 
method  of  acting  in  concert  when  any  nation  or  group  of 
nations  seeks  to  disturb  those  fundamental  things,  can 
we  feel  that  civilization  is  at  last  in  a  way  of  justifying 
its  existence  and  claiming  to  be  finally  established.  It 
is  clear  that  nations  must  in  the  future  be  governed  by 
the  same  high  code  of  honor  that  we  demand  of  individuals. 

Repeated  utterances  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  most 
of  the  great  nations  now  engaged  in  war  have  made  it 
plain  that  their  thought  has  come  to  this,  that  the  prin- 
ciple of  public  right  must  henceforth  take  precedence 
over  the  individual  interests  of  particular  nations,  and 
that  the  nations  of  the  world  must  in  some  way  band  them- 
selves together  to  see  that  right  prevails  as  against  any 
sort  of  selfish  aggression;  that  henceforth  alliance  must 
not  be  set  up  against  alliance,  understanding  against 
understanding,  but  that  there  must  be  a  common  agree- 
ment for  a  common  object,  and  that  at  the  heart  of  that 
common  object  must  lie  the  inviolable  rights  of  peoples 
and  of  mankind. 


1  From   an    address    to    the    League    to  Enforce    Peace,    Washing- 
ton.  D.  C. 

16  225 


226  THE   SPIRIT   OF    DEMOCRACY 

The  nations  of  the  world  have  become  each  other's 
neighbors.  It  is  to  their  interest  that  they  should  under- 
stand each  other.  In  order  that  they  may  understand 
each  other  it  is  imperative  that  they  should  agree  to 
cooperate  in  a  common  cause,  and  that  they  should  so 
act  that  the  guiding  principle  of  that  common  cause  shall 
be  even-handed  and  impartial  justice. 

If  it  should  ever  be  our  privilege  to  suggest  or  initiate  a 
movement  for  peace  among  the  nations  now  at  war,  I 
am  sure  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  wish 
their  Government  to  move  along  these  lines : 

First  such  a  settlement  with  regard  to  their  own 
immediate  interests  as  the  belligerents  may  agree  upon. 
We  have  nothing  material  of  any  kind  to  ask  for  our- 
selves, and  we  are  in  no  sense  or  degree  parties  to  the 
present  quarrel.  Our  interest  is  only  in  peace  and  its 
future  guarantees. 

Second,  an  universal  association  of  the  nations  to  main- 
tain the  inviolate  security  of  the  highway  of  the  seas  for 
the  common  and  unhindered  use  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
world,  and  to  prevent  any  war  begun  contrary  to  treaty 
covenants  or  without  warning  and  full  submission  of  the 
causes  to  the  opinion  of  the  world  — a  virtual  guarantee 
of  territorial  integrity  and  political  independence. 


A   PRAYER   IN   TIME   OF  WAR 

ALFRED    NOYES 

Thou,  whose  deep  ways  are  in  the  sea, 
Whose  footsteps  are  not  known. 

Tonight  a  world  that  turned  from  Thee 
Is  waiting  — at  Thy  Throne. 


AMERICA  TO  FRANCE   AND   GREAT   BRITAIN    227 

The  towering  Babels  that  we  raised      ^ 

Where  scoffing  sophists  brawl, 
The  little  Antichrists  we  praised  — 

The  night  is  on  them  all. 

The  fool  hath  said   .    .    .    The  fool  hath  said   .    .    . 

And  we,  who  deemed  him  wise, 
We  who  believed  that  Thou  wast  dead. 

How  should  we  seek  Thine  eyes  ? 

How  should  we  seek  to  Thee  for  power 

Who  scorned  Thee  yesterday? 
How  should  we  kneel,  in  this  dread  hour? 

Lord,  teach  us  how  to  pray ! 

Grant  us  the  single  heart,  once  more, 

That  mocks  no  sacred  thing, 
The  Sword  of  Truth  our  fathers  wore 

When  Thou  wast  Lord  and  King. 

Let  darkness  unto  darkness  tell 

Our  deep  unspoken  prayer. 
For,  while  our  souls  in  darkness  dwell. 

We  know  that  Thou  art  there. 

AMERICA   TO   FRANCE   AND   GREAT   BRITAIN 

HAROLD  T.  PULSIFER 

MASTER  SIGNAL  ELECTRICIAN,  SIGNAL  CORPS,  U.  S.  N.  A. 

France !     Britain !     to  your  stalwart  sons 
We  owe  our  hearthstones  undefiled, 
Our  living  cities :  —  to  your  guns 
The  laughter  of  each  little  child. 


228  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

France !     Britain !     in  the  deadly  pall 
That  hangs  athwart  your  eastern  skies, 
We  see  the  measure  of  our  call, 
The  need  of  holy  sacrifice. 

France !     Britain !     in  your  debt  we  stand 
As  never  nation  stood  before, — 
Henceforth  the  honor  of  our  land 
Speaks  only  where  our  cannons  roar. 

In  gilded  word  and  burnished  phrase 
There  is  no  balm  for  blood  that  flows 
From  those  who  through  infernal  days 
Fight  liberty's  eternal  foes. 

Before  the  judgment  seat  of  God 
Ten  thousand  hopes  will  not  outweigh 
One  single  square  of  bloody  sod 
Held  from  the  Hun  in  red  affray. 

Late  to  the  battlefield  we  come 
Unready,  tortured  with  the  shame 
Of  seeing  brothers  grim  and  dumb 
Dying, — where  we  should  feel  the  flame. 

France !     Britain !     when  the  stars  look  down 
Upon  the  last  great  battle  place, 
Pray  God  we  may  have  won  our  crown,  — 
The  right  to  meet  you  face  to  face ! 


THE  CHALLENGE  229 

THE   CHALLENGE       \ 

H.   T.  SUDDRITH 

Across  the  sea  a  challenge  came 

With  roar  of  guns  and  flash  of  flame! 

'Twixt  Might  and  Right  the  line  was  drawn 

And  freedom's  last  great  flght  was  on! 

•America  that  challenge  heard! 

Her  answer  all  the  world  has  stirred ! 

See !     Streaming  on  the  winds  of  France 

Her  flag  and  allied  flags  advance ! 

Nor  will  those  allied  flags  be  furled 

Till  freedom  triumphs  through  the  world. 


THE   HOLY   QUESTS 

RABBI    STEPHEN    S.  WISE 

There  are  those  who  openly  mock  or  grimly  smile  at 
our  national  program,  maintaining  that  the  end  of  this 
war  is  bound  to  be  evil,  not  only  because  war  ever  brings 
curses  in  its  train,  but  because  we  are  certain  to  surrender 
some  of  the  most  precious  gains  of  the  democratic  life, 
howbeit  we  have  set  forth  to  overwhelm  them  that  are 
democracy's  foes.  I  do  not  so  believe,  for  my  own  is  too 
great  a  trust  in  the  power  of  my  countrymen  to  achieve 
their  purposes.  We  have  set  out  upon  a  high  and  holy 
quest.  We  will  not  basely  stoop  in  our  pursuit  thereof. 
We  who  enter  the  war  without  intent  to  do  evil  but  rather 
to  release  them  that  are  in  bondage  shall  not  so  falter  as 
to  enthrall  ourselves.  If  we  can  war  without  hatred  of 
the  enemy,  can  we  not  triumph  without  hurt  to  ourselves? 
We  will  no  more  than  to  serve  the  world  and  not  to  dis- 
serve ourselves  through  deserting  the  ideals  which  are 
the  soul  of  America. 

Yet  another  reason  there  is  for  resolving  that  we  shall 
not  lose  America  as  we  strive  to  win  the  war.  The  war 
must  and  will  be  won  by  them  who  are  ready  to  lay  down 
their  life  to  the  end  that  victory  may  crown  our  arms. 
Whilst  these  set  forth  to  win  the  war,  dare  we  do  less 
than  determine  that  the  aims  of  America  on  behalf  of 
which  they  wage  war,  on  behalf  of  which  they  are  ready 
to  dare  and  to  die,  shall  not  be  defeated  at  home  whilst 
through  their  service  and  sacrifice  its  arms  triumph 
abroad?     Whilst  these  sacrifice  themselves  for  America, 


1  From  an  address  delivered  in  191 7  in  the  Free  Synagogue,  New  York 

230 


Rabbi  Stephen  S.  Wise 


THE    HOLY   QUEST  231 

we  must  not  sacrifice  America  on  any  ground  whatsoever. 
We  ask  the  young  men  of  America  to  win  the  war.  Let 
it  not  become  needful  for  them  to  demand  of  us  that  we, 
who  are  to  live  amid  security  because  of  their  service 
and  their  sacrifice,  shall  not  lose  their  and  our  America. 

Not  very  long  ago,  I  was  asked  to  have  part  in  a  "Wake 
Up  America"  demonstration  from  which  I  absented  my- 
self because  tawdryness  and  vulgarity  have  no  part  in 
our  international  strife.  The  methods  of  the  circus  ring 
ought  not  to  be  associated  even  remotely  with  the  most 
sombre  event  in  human  history.  Wake  Up  America !  — 
not  only  to  the  need  of  hard  fighting  which  is  inevitable, 
but  the  duty  of  preserving  inviolate  the  high  aims  of  this 
war.  Wake  Up  America ! —  and  wage  a  war  without 
hatred,  without  bitterness,  without  vindictiveness,  a 
war  without  indemnity  exacted  from  others  outwardly 
or  from  ourselves  inwardly. 

Wake  Up  America  to  the  nobleness  of  our  part  in  the 
strife  not  for  profit  to  ourselves  nor  yet  for  punishment 
of  others,  but  for  the  liberation  of  all  peoples,  including 
above  all  the  liberation  of  the  peoples  of  the  German 
Empire  from  Cgesarism. 

Wake  Up  America ! — to  the  greatness  and  the  nobleness 
of  our  quest,  the  making  secure  forever  of  the  sanctity 
of  international  covenant  and  the  rights  of  smaller  nations, 
of  democracy  for  all  the  world. 

Wake  Up  America  and  win  the  war  for  the  world,  but 
hold  and  keep  holy  America's  soul. 


232  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

HANDS   ALL  ROUND 

ALFRED    TENNYSON 
*  *  *  * 

Gigantic  daughter  of  the  West, 

We  drink  to  thee  across  the  flood, 
We  know  thee  and  we  love  thee  best. 
For  art  thou  not  of  British  blood  ? 
Should  war's  mad  blast  again  be  blown, 

Permit  not  thou  the  tyrant  powers 
To  fight  thy  mother  here  alone. 

But  let  thy  broadsides  roar  with  ours. 

Hands  all  round! 
God  the  tyrant's  cause  confound! 
To  our  dear  kinsmen  of  the  West,  my  friends, 

And  the  great  name  of  England,  round  and  round. 

O  rise,  our  strong  Atlantic  sons, 

When  war  against  our  freedom  springs ! 
O  speak  to  Europe  through  your  guns! 

They  can  be  understood  by  kings. 
You  must  not  mix  our  Queen  with  those 

That  wish  to  keep  their  people  fools; 
Our  freedom's  foemen  are  her  foes, 

She  comprehends  the  race  she  rules. 
Hands  all  round! 

God  the  tyrant's  cause  confound! 
To  our  dear  kinsmen  in  the  West,  my  friends, 

And  the  great  name  of  England,  rotmd^^and  round. 


CARRY   ON!  233 

CARRY  ON !  ^ 

JOHN    OXENHAM 

"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!"  — 
Rings,  like  a  clarion  cry, 
Our  heart-felt  valedictory, 
To  cheer  you  on  to  victory ;  — 

"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!'' 
Now  bear  you  well,  and  bear  you  high. 
Who  fights  for  God  to  God  draws  nigh, 
And  wins  him  immortality ;  — 

"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!" 

The  night  is  past,  day  dawns  at  last ;  — 
"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!" 

The  way  is  clear,  the  goal  is  near;  — 
"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!" 

God's  Best  awaits  beyond  these  straits ;  — 
"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!" 

For  Peace  on  Earth  is  at  the  birth ;  — 
"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!" 

The  fateful  day  is  all  your  own. 
The  Evil  Thing  is  overthrown. 
The  mighty  victory  is  won ;  — 

"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!" 
Your  might  shall  set  Christ  on  His  Throne, 
And  His  sweet  grace  in  full  atone 
For  all  that  you  have  undergone ;  — 

"Carry  on,  Brave  Hearts!     Carry  on!" 


234  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

TO   THE   UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA 

ROBERT    BRIDGES 

Brothers  in  blood!  They  who  this  wrong  began 
To  wreck  our  commonwealth,  will  rue  the  day 
When  first  they  challenged  freemen  to  the  fray, 

And  with  the  Briton  dared  the  American. 

Now  are  we  pledged  to  win  the  Rights  of  man; 
Labour  and  Justice  now  shall  have  their  way, 
And  in  a  League  of  Peace  —  God  grant  we  may  — 

Transform  the  earth,  not  patch  up  the  old  plan. 

Sure  is  our  hope  since  he  who  led  your  nation 

Spake  for  mankind,  and  ye  arose  in  awe 
Of  that  high  call  to  work  the  world's  salvation; 
Clearing  your  minds  of  all  estranging  blindness 
In  the  vision  of  Beauty  and  the  Spirit's  law, 
Freedom  and  Honour  and  sweet  Lovingkindness. 

THE   WESTERN   LAND 

CAROLINE    HAZARD 

Great  Western  Land  whose  mighty  breast 
Between  two  oceans  finds  its  rest, 
Begirt  with  storm  on  either  side. 
And  washed  by  strong  Pacific  tide; 
The  knowledge  of  thy  wondrous  birth 
Gave  balanC3  to  the  rounded  earth. 
In  sea  of  darkness  thou  didst  stand 
Now  first  in  Hght,  my  Western  land. 

In  thee  the  olive  and  the  vine 
Unite  with  hemlock  and  with  pine ; 


THE   WESTERN   LAND  235 

In  purest  white  the  Southern  rose    ^ 
Repeats  the  spotless  Northern  snows. 
Around  thy  zone  the  belt  of  maize 
Rejoices  in  the  sun's  hot  rays, 
And  all  that  Nature  could  command 
She  heaped  on  thee,  my  Western  land. 

My  Western  land,  whose  touch  makes  free, 
Advance  to  perfect  liberty ! 
Till  right  shall  make  thy  sovereign  might. 
And  every  wrong  be  crushed  from  sight. 
Behold  thy  day,  thy  time  is  here, 
Thy  people  great,  with  naught  to  fear, 
God  hold  thee  in  His  strong  right  hand. 
My  well  beloved  Western  land. 


A   MESSAGE   TO  AMERICA ^ 

ROMAIN    ROLLAND 

My  faith  is  great  in  the  high  destinies  of  America.  And 
it  is  clear  to  me  that  the  events  of  today  make  more  urgent 
than  before  that  these  be  realized.  On  our  old  Continent, 
civilization  is  menaced.  It  becomes  America's  solemn 
duty  to  uphold  the  wavering  torch. 

You  have  great  advantages  over  the  European  nations. 
You  are  free  of  traditions.  You  are  free  of  that  vast 
load  of  thought,  of  sentiment,  of  secular  obsession  under 
which  the  Old  World  groans.  The  intellectual  fixed  ideas, 
the  dogmas  of  politics  and  art  that  grip  us,  are  imknown 
to  you.  You  may  go  forward,  unhampered,  to  your 
future;  while  we,  in  Europe,  sacrifice  ours,  daily,  to 
quarrels  and  rancors  and  ambitions  that  should  be  dead. 
Europe  has  found  no  better  channel  for  its  genius  than 
to  revive  these  quarrels;  to  submit,  over  and  again,  to 
the  tyrannies  that  they  impose.  And  each  time  that 
Europe  attempts  to  solve  them,  it  succeeds  merely  in 
strengthening  the  web  that  binds  it.  Where  it  should 
strike  clear  of  its  shackles,  it  forges  still  more  iron  meshes. 
Like  the  Atrides,  it  works  out  its  tragedy  under  a  curse. 
And  like  them,  again,  it  prays  for  its  release  in  vain,  to 
some  indifferent  god. 

In  conclusion,  writers  and  thinkers  of  America,  we 
expect  of  you  two  things.  We  ask  that  you  defend  the 
cause  of  Liberty;  that  you  defend  its  conquests;  and  that 
you  increase  them.  And  by  Liberty  I  mean  both  political 
and  intellectual  liberty.     I  mean  the  'ncessant  rebirth 

iProm  an  address  delivered  in  1917. 

236 


Photo   by   Brown  Bros. 


ROMAIN    ROLLAND 


AMERICA   THE   BEAUTIFUL  237 

and  replenishment  of  life  that  it  enfolds^  I  mean  the 
wide  River  of  Spirit  that  never  stagnates,  but  flows  on 
forever. 

Also,  we  ask  that  you  so  master  your  lives  as  to  give 
to  the  world  a  new  ideal  for  lack  of  which  it  bleeds — an 
ideal,  not  of  section  and  tradition,  but  of  Harmony. 
You  must  harmonize  all  of  the  dreams  and  liberties  and 
thoughts  brought  to  your  shores  by  all  your  peoples. 
You  must  make  of  your  culture  a  symphony  that  shall 
in  a  true  way  express  your  brotherhood  of  individuals,  of 
races,  of  cultures  banded  together.  You  must  make  real 
the  dream  of  an  integrated  entire  humanity. 

You  are  fprtunate.  Your  life  is  young  and  abundant. 
Your  land  is  vast  and  free  for  the  discovery  of  your  works. 
You  are  at  the  beginning  of  your  journey,  at  the  dawn  Of 
your  day.  There  is  in  you  no  weariness  of  the  Yesterdays ; 
no  clutterings  of  the  Past. 

Behind  you,  alone,  the  elemental  Voice  of  a  great 
pioneer,  in  whose  message  you  may  well  find  an  almost 
legendary  omen  of  your  task  to  come  ^your  Homer: 
Walt  Whitman. 

Surge  et  Age  [Rise  and  Act]. 


AMERICA   THE   BEAUTIFUL 

KATHARINE   LEE   BATES 

O  beautiful  for  spacious  skies. 
For  amber  waves  of  grain, 

For  purple  mountain  majesties 
Above  the  fruited  plain ! 


238  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

America !     America ! 
God  shed  His  grace  on  thee 
And  crown  thy  good  with  brotherhood 
From  sea  to  shining  sea ! 

O  beautiful  for  pilgrim  feet, 

Whose  stem,  impassioned  stress 
A  thoroughfare  for  freedom  beat 

Across  the  wilderness! 
America !     America ! 

God  mend  thine  every  flaw, 
Confirm  thy  soul  in  self-control, 

Thy  liberty  in  law ! 

O  beautiful  for  heroes  proved 

In  liberating  strife, 
Who  more  than  self  their  country  loved. 

And  mercy  more  than  life ! 
America !     America ! 

May  God  thy  gold  refine. 
Till  all  success  be  nobleness. 

And  every  gain  divine ! 

O  beautiful  for  patriot  dream 

That  sees  beyond  the  years 
Thine  alabaster  cities  gleam 

Undimmed  by  human  tears ! 
America !    America ! 

God  shed  His  grace  on  thee 
And  crown  thy  good  with  brotherhood 

From  sea  to  shining  sea ! 


WE   SHALL   REMEMBER   THEM  239 

WE   SHALL   REMEMBER   THEM 

JAMES  TERRY  WHITE 

They  sleep  beneath  no  immemorial  yews; 

Their  resting  place  no  temple  arches  hem; 
No  blazoned  shaft  or  graven  tablet  woos 

Men's  praise  — and  yet,  we  shall  remember  them. 

The  unforgetting  clouds  shall  drop  their  tears; 

The  winds,  in  ceaseless  lamentation,  wail, 
For  God's  white  Knights  are  lying  on  their  biers, 

Who  pledged  their  service  to  restore  the  Grail. 

They  gave  their  lives  to  make  the  whole  world  free; 

They  recked  not  to  what  flag  they  were  assigned; 
The  starry  Banner,  Cross,  or  Fleur-de-lis  — 

Their  sacrifice  was  made  for  all  mankind. 

For  them  the  task  is  done,  the  strife  is  stilled; 

No  more  shall  care  disturb,  nor  zeal  condemn; 
And  when  the  larger  good  has  been  fulfilled, 

In  coming  years  we  shall  remember  them. 

How  can  the  world  their  deeds  forget?     In  France 
White  crosses  everywhere  lift  pallid  hands, 

Like  silent  sentinels  with  sword  and  lance. 
To  keep  their  memory  safe  for  other  lands. 

What  need  have  they  for  holy  sepulture? 

Within  the  hearts  of  men  is  hallowed  ground  — 
A  sanctuary  where  they  rest  secure. 

And  with  Love's  immortality  are  crowned. 

And  far-off  voices  of  the  future  sing, 

"They  shall  remain  in  memory's  diadem"; 

And  winds  of  promise  still  are  whispering 

That  same  refrain,  "We  shall  remember  them." 


KEEP  THE  ROAD  OF  DEMOCRACY  OPEN^ 

WILLIAM    E.  BORAH 

What  we  have  determined  in  this  crisis,  as  I  under- 
stand it,  is  that  we  will  keep  the  road  of  democracy  open. 
No  one  shall  close  it.  If  any  nation  shall  hereafter  rise 
.  to  the  sublime  requirement  of  self-government  and  choose 
to  go  that  way,  it  shall  have  the  right  to  do  so.  Above 
all  things  we  have  determined,  cost  what  it  may  in  treasure 
and  blood,  that  this  experiment  here  upon  this  Western 
Continent  shall  justify  the  faith  of  its  builders,  that  there 
shall  remain  here  in  all  the  integrity  of  its  powers,  neither 
wrenched  nor  marred  by  the  passions  of  war  from  within 
nor  humbled  nor  dishonored  by  military  power  from 
without,  the  Republic  of  the  fathers;  that  since  the  chal- 
lenge has  been  thrown  down  that  this  is  a  war  unto  death 
between  two  opposing  theories  of  government  we  are 
determined  that  whatever  else  happens  as  a  result  of  this 
war  this  form  of  organization,  this  theory  of  state,  this 
last  great  hope,  this  fruition  of  one  hundred  thirty  years 
of  struggle  and  toil,  "shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

We  can  and  should  keep  the  issue  clear  of  all  selfish 
and  imperialistic  ambitions,  but  the  issue  itself  cannot  be 
compromised.  Cost  what  it  may  in  treasure  and  blood, 
the  burden,  as  if  by  fate,  has  been  laid  upon  us,  and  we 
must  meet  it  manfully  and  successfully.  To  compromise 
is  to  acknowledge  defeat.  The  policies  of  Frederick  the 
Great  which  would  make  of  all  human  souls  mere  cogs  in 
a  vast  military  machine,  and  the  policies  of  Washington 
which  would  make  government  the  expression  and  the 

1  From  a  speech  delivered  March  i8,  191 8. 

240 


KEEP   THE   ROAD   OF   DEMOCRACY   OPEN        241 

instmment  of  popular  power  are  contending  for  suprem- 
acy on  the  battlefields  of  Europe.  Just  that  single, 
simple,  stupendous  issue,  beside  which  all  other  issues  in 
this  war  are  trivial,  must  have  a  settlement  as  clear  and 
conclusive  as  the  settlement  at  Runnymede  or  Yorktown. 
To  lose  sight  of  this  fact  is  to  miss  the  supreme  pur- 
pose of  the  war,  and  to  permit  it  to  be  embarrassed  or 
belittled  by  questions  of  territory  is  to  betray  the  cause 
of  civilization.  And  to  fail  to  settle  it  clearly  and  con- 
clusively is  to  fail  in  the  most  vital  and  sublime  task  ever 
laid  upon  a  people. 

We  need  not  prophesy  now  when  victory  will  come. 
Neither  is  it  profitable  to  speculate  how  it  will  come.  If 
it  is  a  real  and  not  a  sham  peace,  we  will  have  no  trouble 
in  recognizing  it  when  it  does  come.  Whether  it  shall 
come  in  the  bloody  and  visible  triumph  of  arms  or,  as 
we  hope,  through  the  overthrow  and  destruction  of 
militarism  by  the  people  of  the  respective  countries,  we 
do  not  know.  But  that  it  will  come  we  most  confidently 
believe.  Indeed,  if  the  principles  of  right  and  the  pre- 
cepts of  liberty  are  not  a  myth,  we  know  it  will  come. 

It  has  been  said  by  some  one  that  it  was  not  possible 
for  Napoleon  to  win  at  Waterloo,  not  on  account  of 
Wellington,  not  on  account  of  Bluecher,  but  on  account 
of  the  unchanging  laws  of  liberty  and  justice.  Let  us 
call  something  of  this  faith  to  our  own  contest.  Let  us 
go  forward  in  the  belief  that  it  is  not  possible  in  the  morn- 
ing of  the  twentieth  century  of  the  Christian  civilization 
for  militarism,  for  brute  force,  to  triumph. 

We  cannot  lose.  We  must  win.  The  only  question  is 
whether  we  shall,  through  efficiency  and  concerted  action, 
win  without  unnecessary  loss  of  life,  unnecessary  waste 

17 


242  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

of  treasure,  or  whether  we  shall,  through  lack  of  unity  in 
spirit  and  purpose,  win  only  after  fearful  and  unnecessary 
sacrifices. 

It  has  often  been  said  since  the  war  began  that  a  repub- 
lic cannot  make  war.  I  trample  the  doctrine  under  my 
feet.  I  scorn  the  faithless  creed  as  the  creed  of  cowards 
and  traitors.  A  republic  can  make  war.  It  can  make 
war  successfully  and  triumphantly  and  remain  a  republic 
every  hour  of  the  conflict.  The  genius  who  presided  over 
the  organization  of  this  Republic,  whose  impressive  force 
was  knit  into  every  fibre  of  our  national  organization, 
knew  that  though  devoted  to  peace  the  time  would  come 
when  the  Republic  would  have  to  make  war.  Over  and 
over  again  he  solemnly  warned  his  countrymen  to  be  ever 
ready  and  always  prepared.  He  intended,  therefore, 
that  this  Republic  should  make  war  and  make  war 
effectively,  and  the  Republic  which  Washington  framed 
and  baptized  with  his  love  can  make  war.  Let  these 
faithless  recreants  cease  to  preach  their  pernicious 
doctrine. 

This  theory,  this  belief  that  a  self-governing  people 
cannot  make  war  without  forfeiting  their  freedom  and 
their  form  of  government  is  vicious  enough  to  have  been 
kenneled  in  some  foreign  clime.  A  hundred  million  people 
knit  together  by  the  ties  of  a  common  patriotism,  united 
in  spirit  and  purpose,  conscious  of  the  fact  that  their 
freedom  is  imperiled,  and  exerting  their  energies  and 
asserting  their  powers  through  the  avenues  and  machinery 
of  a  representative  Republic  is  the  most  masterful  enginery 
of  war  yet  devised  by  man.  It  has  in  it  a  power,  an  ele- 
ment of  strength,  which  no  military  power  of  itself  can 
bring  into  effect. 


RESURREXIT  243 

The  American  soldier,  a  part  of  the  life  of  his  nation, 
imbued  with  devotion  to  his  country,  has  something  in 
him  that  no  system  of  mere  military  training  and  disci- 
pline as  applied  to  automatons  of  an  absolute  Government 
can  ever  give.  The  most  priceless  heritage  which  this 
war  will  leave  to  a  war-torn  and  weary  world  is  the 
demonstrated  fact  that  a  free  people  of  a  free  Government 
can  make  war  successfully  and  triumphantly,  can  defy 
and  defeat  militarism  and  preserve  through  it  all  their 
independence,  their  freedom,  and  the  integrity  of  their 
institutions. 

RESURREXIT 

(Paris,  Easter,  19 17) 
GRACE   ELLERY   CHANNING 
"  Three  days  and  nights  "  they  watched  their  sleeping  Lord : 
But  we  —  three  years  of  days 
We  have  not  taken  our  hands  off  from  the  sword. 
Nor  our  eyes  from  her  face. 
Others  might  sleep:  we  loving  most,  have  kept 
Vigil  stem  soldiers  keep: 
The  terror  walked  in  darkness,  and  She  slept 
When  it  was  death  to  sleep, — 
When  it  was  shame. 

We  have  not  ceased  to  call  upon  her  name. 
To  watch  —  to  fight  —  to  pray ; 
Now  let  her  late-awakened  take  our  place ; 
Yes,  let  them  have  their  day. 
And  we  our  sleep; 

We  have  not  slept,  so  long,  for  her  love's  sake. 
But  now —  she  is  awake. 
Awake :  and  all  her  stars  point  out  the  way ! 


244  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Sleep  —  did  I  say? 

Rather  our  eyes  shall  their  full  rapture  take, 

Nor  yet  the  full  heart  break 

Beholding  how  her  Angel  rolls  away 

The  years  of  our  despair, 

And  at  her  first  word  uttered  on  the  air. 

How  the  glad,  generous  nations  run  to  greet 

Her  coming  hands  and  feet. 

What  matters  now  what  mortal  griefs  may  come, 

What  agonies  to  bear  — 

When  Freedom's  brightest  armies  shall  turn  home 

She  will  be  marching  there ! 

THE   ROAD   TO  FRANCE 

DANIEL   M.  HENDERSON 

Thank  God  our  liberating  lance 

Goes  flaming  on  the  way  to  France ! 

To  France  —  the  trail  the  Gurkhas  found ! 

To  France  — old  England's  rallying  ground! 

To  France  —  the  path  the  Russians  strode ! 

To  France — the  Anzacs'  glory  road! 

To  France  —  where  oiu"  Lost  Legion  ran 

To  fight  and  die  for  God  and  Man! 

To  France  —  with  every  race  and  breed 

That  hates  Oppression's  brutal  creed ! 

Ah,  France — how  could  our  hearts  forget 
The  path  by  which  came  Lafayette? 
How  could  the  haze  of  doubt  hang  low 
Upon  the  road  to  Rochambeau? 
How  was  it  that  we  missed  the  way 
Brave  Joff re  leads  us  along  to-day  ? 
At  last,  thank  God !  at  last  we  see 


THE   GUARDS   CAME  THROUGH  245 

There  is  no  tribal  Liberty !  ^ 

No  beacon  lighting  just  our  shores! 
No  freedom  guarding  but  our  doors! 
The  flame  she  kindled  for  our  sires 
Burns  now  in  Europe's  battle  fires! 
The  soul  that  led  our  fathers  west 
Turns  back  to  free  the  world's  oppressed. 
Allies,  you  have  not  called  in  vain! 
We  share  your  conflict  and  your  pain ! 

"Old  Glory,"  through  new  stains  and  rents, 
Partakes  of  freedom's  sacraments. 
Across  the  red,  shell-blasted  turf 
We  drive  the  invader  and  his  serf! 
Last  come,  we  will  be  last  to  stay  — 
Till  right  has  had  her  crowning  day ! 
Replenish,  comrades,  from  our  veins. 
The  blood  the  sword  of  despot  drains, 
And  make  our  eager  sacrifice 
Part  of  that  freely-rendered  price 
You  pay  to  lift  humanity  ^ 
You  pay  to  make  our  brothers  free! 
See,  with  what  proud  hearts  we  advance 
To  France. 


THE  GUARDS  CAME  THROUGH 

SIR  ARTHUR  CONAN  DOYLE 

Men  of  the  Twenty-first 

Up  by  the  Chalk  Pit  Wood, 
Weak  with  our  wounds  and  our  thirst, 

Wanting  our  sleep  and  our  food, 


246  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

After  a  day  and  a  night  — 

God,  shall  we  ever  forget! 
Beaten  and  broke  in  the  fight, 

But,  sticking  it — sticking  it  yet. 
Trying  to  hold  the  line, 

Fainting  and  spent  and  done, 
Always  the  thud  and  the  whine, 

Always  the  yell  of  the  Hun ! 
Northumberland,  Lancaster,  York, 

Durham  and  Somerset, 
Fighting  alone,  worn  to  the  bone. 

But  sticking  it  —  sticking  it  yet. 

Never  a  message  of  hope ! 

Never  a  word  of  cheer ! 
Fronting  Hill  70's  shell-swept  slope, 

With  the  dull  dead  plain  in  our  rear. 
Always  the  whine  of  the  shell. 

Always  the  roar  of  its  biirst. 
Always  the  tortures  of  hell, 

As  waiting  and  wincing  we  cursed 
Our  luck  and  the  guns  and  the  Boche, 

When  our  Corporal  shouted,  "Stand  to!" 
And  I  heard  some  one  cry,  "Clear  the  front  tor 
the  Guards!" 

And  the  Guards  came  through. 

Our  throats  they  were  parched  and  hot, 
But  Lord,  if  you  'd  heard  the  cheers ! 

Irish  and  Welsh  and  Scot, 
Coldstream  and  Grenadiers. 

Two  brigades,  if  you  please. 
Dressing  as  straight  as  a  hem, 


THE  GUARDS  CAME  THROUGH  247 

We  —  we  were  down  on  our  knees,    y 

Praying  for  us  and  for  them ! 
Lord,  I  could  speak  for  a  week, 

But  how  could  you  understand ! 
How  should  your  cheeks  be  wet, 

Such  feelin's  don't  come  to  you. 
But  when  can  me  or  my  mates  forget. 

When  the  Guards  came  through? 

"Five  yards  left  extend!" 

It  passed  from  rank  to  rank. 
Line  after  line  with  never  a  bend. 

And  a  touch  of  the  London  swank. 
A  trifle  of  swank  and  dash. 

Cool  as  a  home  parade, 
Twinkle  and  glitter  and  flash, 

Flinching  never  a  shade. 
With  the  shrapnel  right  in  their  face 

Doing  their  Hyde  Park  stunt, 
Keeping  their  swing  at  an  easy  pace. 

Arms  at  the  trail,  eyes  front ! 
Man,  it  was  great  to  see! 

Man,  it  was  fine  to  do ! 
It 's  a  cot  and  a  hospital  ward  for  me. 
But  I  '11  tell  'em  in  Blighty,  wherever  I  be. 

How  the  Guards  came  through. 

From  the  London   Times 


WORLD   RECONSTRUCTION! 

OSCAR  S.  STRAUS 

The  reconstruction  of  the  world  after  this  war  will  be 
our  concern,  but  it  will  be  urged  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
forbids  us  to  take  part  in  European  concerns.  Reading 
Monroe's  Doctrine  in  the  light  of  changed  conditions,  we 
find  there  a  warrant,  if  not  a  duty,  even  in  its  language 
for  our  country's  participation  in  the  reconstruction  of 
the  world. 

The  language  is :  "In  the  wars  of  the  European  powers, 
in  matters  relating  to  themselves,  we  have  never  taken 
any  part,  nor  does  it  comport  with  our  policy  to  do  so. 
It  is  only  when  our  rights  are  invaded  or  seriously  menaced 
that  we  resent  injuries  or  make  preparation  for  our  defense." 
Is  it  not  clear  that  if  the  doctrine  of  might  should  prevail 
and  the  policy  of  militarism  triumph,  that  the  power  of 
defense  would  be  the  only  protection  that  nations  would 
have  against  one  another,  and  that  the  Machiavellian 
doctrine  of  the  necessity  of  States  would  be  the  final  arbiter 
of  the  rights  of  States?  If  this  be  true,  does  it  not  clearly 
become  our  duty,  not  only  primarily  in  our  own  interests, 
but  secondarily  in  the  interests  of  the  world,  to  insist  upon 
taking  part  in  reestablishing  upon  a  firmer  basis  the 
safeguards  of  international  law,  without  which  treaties 
can  have  no  value? 

While  "righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,"  the  present 
war  gives  incontrovertible  proof  that  righteousness  will 
not  protect  a  nation  unless  all  other  nations  are  likewise 

\  From  a  speech  delivered  before  the  National  Institute  of  Social 
Sciences  on  April  28,  1916. 

248 


Photo   b>    Brown   Bros. 


Oscar  Straus 


THE   UNIVERSAL   PEACE  249 

exalted  by  righteousness.  When  that  time  arrives  we 
shall  have  reached  the  millenium,  which  from  present 
indications  is  sufficiently  remote  to  justify  a  search  for 
ways  and  means  that  will  serve  the  purpose  of  the  world 
in  the  intervening  time. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  out  of  the  extreme  suffering  and 
sacrifice  that  this  war  imposes  there  may  arise  supreme 
wisdom  among  the  nations.  Either  there  will  be  a  new 
day  or  a  darker  night ;  all  depends  upon  how  this  war  will 
end  and  what  bulwarks  the  nations  will  erect  against 
future  cataclysms  such  as  we  are  now  witnessing.  In 
conclusion,  let  me  repeat,  America  is  as  much  concerned 
in  the  world's  peace  as  the  [other]  nations  at  war.  We 
must  take  a  part  in  the  reconstruction.  Norman  Angell 
significantly  says  that  if  we  do  not  mix  in  European 
affairs  Europe  will  mix  in  our  affairs.  We  owe  it  to  our- 
selves, to  humanity  and  to  the  world  to  lend  our  best 
efforts  and  to  make  our  fullest  contribution  to  that  recon- 
struction which  must  come. 

JUDGMENT   DAY 

JOHN  OXENHAM 
The  nations  are  in  the  proving; 
Each  day  is  Judgment  Day; 
And  the  peoples  He  finds  wanting 
Shall  pass  —  by  the  Shadowy  Way. 

THE   UNIVERSAL   PEACE 

ALFRED   TENNYSON 

For  I  dipt  into  the  future,  far  as  human  eye  could  see, 
Saw  the  Vision  of  the  world,  and  all  the  wonder  that 
would  be; 


250  THE   SPIRIT  OF   DEMOCRACY 

Saw  the  heavens  fill  with  commerce,  argosies  of  magic 

sails, 
Pilots  of  the  purple  twilight,  dropping  down  with  costly 

bales ; 

Heard  the  heavens  fill  with  shouting,  and  there  rained  a 

ghastly  dew 
From  the  nations'  airy  navies  grappling  in  the  central 

blue; 

Far   along  the  world-wide   whisper   of   the   south-wind 

rushing  warm. 
With  the  standards  of  the  peoples   plunging   thro'    the 

thunder-storm; 

Till  the  war-drum  throbb'd  no  longer,  and  the  battle-flags 

were  furl'd 
In  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  Federation  of  the  world. 

There  the  common  sense  of  most  shall  hold  a  fretful 

realm  in  awe, 
And  the  kindly  earth  shall  slumber,  lapt  in  universal  law. 

—From  "Locksley  Hall" 


Photo  by  Koehne 


John  Timothy  Stone 


THE   YEAR   BEFORE   US 

JOHN  TIMOTHY  STONE 

Our  nation  has  entered  the  great  world  strife  for  free- 
dom, hberty  and  right,  taking  the  same  stand  for  the 
world  which  she  took  for  herself  in  1776,  joining  with  the 
nations  of  the  earth  which  stand  for  liberty  of  conscience 
and  righteous  freedom,  and  saying  to  the  enemy  of  God 
and  man,  "Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  but  no  farther." 

No  selfish  motive  has  inspired  our  nation,  as  voiced  in 
the  Christian  message  of  our  President:  "A  supreme 
moment  of  history  has  come.  The  eyes  of  the  people  have 
been  opened  and  they  see  the  hand  of  God  is  laid  upon  the 
nations.  He  will  show  them  favor,  I  devoutly  believe, 
only  if  they  rise  to  the  clear  heights  of  his  own  justice  and 


mercv." 


We  are  to  "stand  fast  in  the  faith."  We  are  to  "quit 
ourselves  like  men  and  be  strong."  We  are  to  endure 
hardness  as  good  soldiers,  and  with  it  all  we  are  to  do  our 
part  to  bring  to  a  great  sinning,  suffering,  sickened  world 
the  meaning  of  those  words  of  the  angel  to  the  shepherds : 
"Behold,  I  bring  you  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  which  shall 
be  to  all  people,  for  unto  you  is  bom  this  day  in  the  city 
of  David  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord."  The 
"peace,  good  will  to  men"  will  result. 

In  all  this  strife  we  are  following  The  Master.  "For 
the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many."  Some 
can  minister  with  the  sword,  in  destroying  the  usurping 
power  of  the  enemy.  As  that  enemy  took  the  sword,  so 
shall  they  perish  with  the  sword.     As  the  Master  said  to 

251 


252  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Peter:  "For  all  they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish 
with  the  sword."  They  took  it  against  helpless  Belgium. 
They  have  advanced  with  it  that  they  might  dominate 
the  world.  With  that  sword  they  shall  perish,  as  Chris- 
tian soldiers  minister  therewith. 

We  must  literally  give  our  lives  "a  ransom  for  many." 
The  Saviour  of  man  was  willing  to  suffer  and  die.  We 
must  be  willing  to  suffer  and  die,  if  need  be,  for  a  great 
cause  that  will  free  the  world  and  hasten  the  coming  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace,  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  We  must 
pray  and  serve,  watch  and  fight. 

There  is  no  one  great  note  which  our  nation  needs  at 
this  moment  more  than  the  clear,  unfaltering  note  that 
Christ  is  in  this  strife,  "not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but 
to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many." 

Crowns  and  thrones  may  perish. 

Kingdoms  wax  and  wane. 

But  the  Church  of  Jesus  constant  will  remain. 

This  letter  could  not  come  to  you  from  my  heart  unless 
I  spoke  clearly  my  conviction,  as  patriot  as  well  as  pastor, 
in  all  that  I  believe  to  be  the  strong  and  stirring  note  of 
Him  who  shed  His  own  blood  for  us,  and  thus  took  life 
that  we  might  live. 

Let  us  look  forward  with  the  joyful  faith  of  those  who 
are  willing  to  experience  for  Him,  to  the  fullest  degree,  all 
that  He  sends,  believing  that  He  is  "able  to  do  exceedingly 
abundantly,  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  even  according 
to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us."  May  this  year  hold 
for  us  as  a  nation  and  as  individuals,  the  victory  of  arms 
and  faith,  as  right  triiunphs  over  might;  and  justice, 
mercy  and  peace  unitedly  herald  the  coming  of  a  better 
day. 


GOD  SAVE   OUR   SPLENDID   MEN  253 

LORD,   GIVE   ME  A   PLAC^ 

Lord,  give  me  a  place  in  the  world's  great  fight. 
The  fight  for  the  good  and  the  true; 
A  place  where  the  wrong  outrivals  the  right. 
And  there 's  a  soldier's  work  to  do. 

Help  me  to  grapple  some  monster  wrong 
That  baffles  the  good  and  true, 
With  a  white-hot  heart,  and  a  tireless  song. 
And  a  far  hope  ever  in  view. 

Hold  fast  my  gaze  to  that  gleaming  height. 
Lest  urged  by  reproach  or  applause, 
I  battle  more  from  lust  of  fight 
Than  love  of  a  Christlike  cause. 

And  when  with  earth  and  its  strife  I'm  through, 
Let  me  leave  it  a  safer  place; 
With  a  clearer  field  for  the  good  and  true, 
And  the  kingdom  of  love  and  grace. 


GOD   SAVE   OUR   SPLENDID   MEN 

Tune:   America 

God  save  our  splendid  men, 
Send  them  safe  home  again 

God  save  our  men. 
Make  them  victorious. 
Patient  and  chivalrous, 
They  are  so  dear  to  us, 

God  save  our  men. 


254  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

God  keep  our  own  dear  men, 
From  every  stain  of  sin, 

God  keep  our  men. 
When  Satan  would  allure. 
When  tempted  keep  them  pure, 
Be  their  protection  sure  — 

God  keep  our  men. 

God  hold  our  precious  men, 
And  love  them  to  the  end, 

God  hold  our  men. 
Held  in  Thine  arms  so  strong. 
To  Thee  they  all  belong. 
Held  safe  from  every  wrong, 

God  hold  our  men. 


THE   RED   CROSS  1 

The  World's  Greatest  Fraternal  Organization 
woodrow  wilson  1 

I  have  not  come  here  to-night  to  review  for  you  the 
work  of  the  Red  Cross.  I  have  come  here  simply  to  say 
a  few  words  to  you  as  to  what  it  all  seems  to  me  to 
mean.     It  means  a  great  deal. 

There  are  two  duties  with  which  we  are  face  to  face. 
The  first  duty  is  to  win  the  war,  and  the  second  duty, 
that  goes  hand  in  hand  with  it,  is  to  win  it  greatly  and 
worthily,  showing  the  real  quality  of  our  power  not  only, 
but  the  real  quality  of  our  purpose  and  of  ourselves.  Of 
course,  the  first  duty,  the  duty  that  we  must  keep  in 
the  foreground  of  our  thought  until  it  is  accomplished,  is 
to  win  the  war. 

But  behind  all  this  grim  purpose  lies  the  opportunity 
to  demonstrate  not  only  force,  which  will  be  demonstrated 
to  the  utmost,  but  the  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
character,  and  it  is  that  opportunity  that  we  have  most 
conspicuously  in  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross.  Not  that 
our  men  in  arms  do  not  represent  our  character,  for  they 
do;  and  it  is  a  character  which  those  who  see  and  realize 
appreciate  and  admire,  but  their  duty  is  the  duty  of  force. 
The  duty  of  the  Red  Cross  is  the  duty  of  mercy  and 
succor  and  friendship. 

Have  you  formed  a  picture  in  your  imagination  of 
what  this  war  is  doing  for  us  and  for  the  world  ?     In  my  ■ 
own  mind  I  am  convinced  that  not  a  hundred  years  of 

iProm  the  speech  delivered  in  New  York  May  i8,  1918,  at  the 
opening  of  the  Red   Cross  drive. 

255 


256  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

peace  could  have  knitted  this  Nation  together  as  this 
single  year  of  war  has  knitted  it  together,  and,  better  even 
than  that  if  possible,  it  is  knitting  the  world  together. 
Look  at  the  picture:  In  the  center  of  the  scene  four 
nations  engaged  against  the  world,  and  at  every  point  of 
vantage  showing  that  they  are  seeking  selfish  aggrandize- 
ment; and  against  them  twenty-three  governments 
representing  the  greater  part  of  the  population  of  the 
world  drawn  together  into  a  new  sense  of  community 
of  interest,  a  new  sense  of  community  of  purpose,  a  new 
sense  of  unity  of  life. 

The  Secretary  of  War  told  me  an  interesting  incident 
the  other  day.  He  said  when  he  was  in  Italy  a  member 
of  the  Italian  Government  was  explaining  to  him  the 
many  reasons  why  Italy  felt  near  to  the  United  States. 
He  said,  "If  you  want  to  try  an  interesting  experiment  go 
up  to  any  one  of  these  troop  trains  and  ask  in  English 
how  many  of  them  have  been  in  America,  and  see  what 
happens."  He  tried  the  experiment.  He  went  up  to  a 
troop  train  and  he  said,  "How  many  of  you  boys  have 
been  in  America,"  and  he  said  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  half 
of  them  sprang  up  and  said:  "Me  from  San  Francisco," 
"  Me  from  New  York  —  all  over."  There  was  part  of  the 
heart  of  America  in  the  Italian  Army  —  people  that  had 
been  knitted  to  us  by  association,  who  knew  us,  who 
had  lived  among  us,  who  had  worked  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  us,  and  now,  friends  of  America,  were  fighting  for 
their  native  Italy. 

Friendship  is  the  only  cement  that  will  ever  hold  the 
world  together.  And  this  intimate  contact  of  the  great 
Red  Cross  with  the  peoples  who  are  suffering  the  terrors 
and  deprivations  of  this  war  is  going  to  be  one  of  the 


THE    RED   CROSS  257 

greatest  instrumentalities  of  friendship  that  the  world 
ever  knew,  and  the  center  of  the  heart  of  it  all,  if  we  sus- 
tain it  properly,  will  be  this  land  that  we  so  dearly  love. 

My  friends,  a  great  day  of  duty  has  come,  and  duty 
finds  a  man's  soul  as  no  kind  of  work  can  ever  find  it. 
You  can  not  give  anything  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  it  will  not  accept  it.  There  is  a  law  of 
Congress  against  accepting  even  services  without  pay. 
The  only  thing  that  the  Government  will  accept  is  a  loan, 
and  duties  performed;  but  it  a  great  deal  better  to  give 
than  to  lend  or  to  pay,  and  your  great  channel  for  giving 
is  the  American  Red  Cross.  Down  in  your  hearts  you 
can  not  take  very  much  satisfaction  in  the  last  analysis 
in  lending  money  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  because  the  interest  which  you  draw  will  bum 
your  pockets.  It  is  a  commercial  transaction.  But  when 
you  give,  something  of  your  heart,  something  of  your 
soul,  something  of  yourself  goes  with  the  gift,  particularly 
when  it  is  given  in  such  form  that  it  never  can  come  back 
by  way  of  direct  benefit  to  yourself.  You  know,  there  is 
the  old  cynical  definition  of  gratitude,  as  "the  lively 
expectation  of  favors  to  come."  Well,  there  is  no  expec- 
tation of  favors  to  come  in  this  kind  of  giving.  These 
things  are  bestowed  in  order  that  the  world  may  be  a 
fitter  place  to  live  in,  that  men  may  be  succored,  that 
homes  may  be  restored,  that  suffering  may  be  relieved, 
that  the  face  of  the  earth  may  have  the  blight  of  destruc- 
tion taken  away  from  it,  and  that  wherever  force  goes, 
there  shall  go  mercy  and  helpfulness. 

Think  what  we  have  here!  We  call  it  the  American 
Red  Cross,  but  it  is  merely  a  branch  of  a  great  inter- 
national organization,  which  is  not  only  recognized  by 

18 


\ 


258  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

the  statutes  of  each  of  the  civilized  governments  of  the 
world,  but  is  recognized  by  international  agreement  and 
treaty  as  the  recognized  and  accepted  instnmientality 
of  mercy  and  succor.  We  are  members,  by  being  mem- 
bers of  the  American  Red  Cross,  of  a  great  fraternity  and 
comradeship  which  extends  all  over  the  world,  and  this 
cross  which  these  ladies  bore  to-day  is  an  emblem,  of 
Christianity  itself. 

It  fills  my  imagination  to  think  of  the  women  all  over 
this  country  who  are  busy  to-night  and  are  busy  every 
night  and  every  day  doing  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross, 
busy  with  a  great  eagerness  to  find  out  the  most  service- 
able thing  to  do,  busy  with  a  forgetfulness  of  all  the  old 
frivolities  of  their  social  relationships,  ready  to  curtail 
the  duties  of  the  household  in  order  that  they  may  con- 
tribute to  this  common  work  that  all  their  hearts  are 
engaged  in,   and  in   doing  which   their  hearts  become 
acquainted  with  each  other.     When  you  think  of  this, 
you  reaHze  how  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  being 
drawn  together  into  a  great  intimate  family  whose  heart 
is  being  used  for  the  service  of  the  soldiers  not  only,  but 
for  the  service  of  civilians  where  they  suffer  and  are  lost 
in  a  maze  of  distresses  and  distractions.     And  you  have, 
then,  this  noble  picture  of  justice  and  mercy  as  the  two 
servants  of  liberty.     For  only  where  men  are  free  do  they 
think  the  thoughts  of  comradeship;  only  where  they  are 
free  do  they  think  the  thoughts  of  sympathy;  only  where 
they  are  free  are  they  mutually  helpful;  only  where  they 
are  free  do  they  realize  their  dependence  upon  one  another 
and  their  comradeship  in  a  common  interest  and  common 

necessity. 

If  you  could  read  some  of  the  touching  dispatches 


BEHIND  THE   GUNS  259 

which  come  through  official  channels  (for  even  through 
those  channels  there  come  voices  of  humanity  that  are 
infinitely  pathetic) ;  if  you  could  catch  some  of  those 
voices  that  speak  the  utter  longing  of  oppressed  and  help- 
less peoples  all  over  the  world,  to  hear  something  like  the 
Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic,  to  hear  the  feet  of  the 
great  hosts  of  Liberty  coming  to  set  them  free,  to  set  their 
minds  free,  set  their  lives  free,  set  their  children  free  —  you 
would  know  what  comes  into  the  heart  of  those  who  are 
trying  to  contribute  all  the  brains  and  power  they  have  to 
this  great  enterprise  of  Liberty.  I  simimon  you  to  the 
comradeship.  I  summon  you  to  say  how  much  and  how 
sincerely  and  how  unanimously  you  sustain  the  heart  of 
the  world. 

BEHIND   THE   GUNS 

HENRY  EDWARD  WARNER 

There  are  three  who  stand  behind  the  guns,  there  are 

three  who  bear  the  load  — 
There  is  one  who  stands  behind  the  three,  to  feel  the 

stinging  goad; 
And  one  of  the  three  is  the  soldier  brave,  and  one  is  the 

girl  who  slips 
So  quietly  in  by  the  bed,  and  one  is  the  man  who  builds 

the  ships. 
And  these  are  the  three  who  bear  the  load,  and  the  other 

one  is  she 
Who  stays  and  prays,  and  who  weeps  and  hopes  for  the 

weal  of  the  other  three  — 
And  she  is  the  Woman  who  stays  and  prays  when  the 

voice  of  duty  calls 
The  Boy  in  Khaki,  the  Girl  in  White  and  the  Man  in  the 

Overalls ! 


26o  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

And  one  shall  go  to  the  battle  line  with  a  song  of  conquest 

free, 
And  one  shall  tenderly  feel  a  pulse  where  the  heroes  sick 

may  be, 
And  one  shall  hammer  and  saw  and  calk  the  ship  that 

must  ride  the  waves 
To  carry  the  two  to  their  work  of  love,  where  shells  blast 

cratered  graves! 
And  the  other  one,  she  shall  weave  and  weep,  yet  smile 

through  her  gathering  tears  — 
For  the  Mother-love  and  the  Mother-pride  shall  conquer 

her  Mother-tears; 
And  Three  and  One,  they  shall  batter  down  fair  Liberty's 

prison  walls  — 
The  Boy  in  Kliaki,  the  Girl  in  White,  and  the  Man  in  the 

Overalls ! 

THE  RED  CROSS  SPIRIT  SPEAKS 

JOHN  H.  FINLEY 

Wherever  war,  with  its  red  woes. 
Or  flood,  or  fire,  or  famine  goes, 

There,  too,  go  I; 
If  earth  in  any  quarter  quakes 
Or  pestilence  its  ravage  makes, 

Thither  I  fly. 

I  go  wherever  men  may  dare, 
I  go  wherever  woman's  care 

And  love  can  live, 
Wherever  strength  and  skill  can  bring 
Surcease  to  human  suffering. 

Or  solace  give. 


GREY  KNITTING  261 

I  helped  upon  Haldora's  shore;         ^ 
With  Hospitaller  Knights  I  bore 

The  first  red  cross ; 
I  was  the  Lady  of  the  Lamp ; 
I  saw  in  Solferino's  camp 

The  crimson  loss. 

I  am  your  pennies  and  your  pounds ; 
I  am  your  bodies  on  their  rounds 

Of  pain  afar; 
I  am  you,  doing  what  you  would 
If  you  were  only  where  you  could  — 

Your  avatalr. 

The  cross  which  on  my  arm  I  wear, 
The  flag  which  o'er  my  breast  I  bear, 

Is  but  the  sign 
Of  what  you  'd  sacrifice  for  him 
Who  suffers  on  the  hellish  rim 

Of  war's  red  line. 

GREY   KNITTING 

KATHERINE  HALE 

Something  sings  gently  through  the  din  of  battle, 
Something  spreads  very  softly  rim  on  rim 
And  every  soldier  hears,  at  times,  a  murmur 
Tender,  incessant  —  dim. 

A  tiny  click  of  little  wooden  needles. 
Elfin  amid  the  gianthood  of  war; 
Whispers  of  women,  tireless  and  patient, 
Who  weave  the  web  afar. 


262  THE  SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Whispers  of  women,  tireless  and  patient  — 
'Foolish,  inadequate!'  we  hear  you  say; 
'Grey  wool  on  fields  of  hell  is  out  of  fashion,' 
And  yet  we  weave  the  web  from  day  to  day. 

And  so  each  soldier,  laughing,  fighting  — dying 
Under  the  aUen  skies,  in  his  great  hour. 
May  listen,  in  death's  prescience  all-enfolding. 
And  hear  a  fairy  sound  bloom  like  a  flower  — 

I  like  to  think  that  soldiers,  gaily  dying 
For  the  white  Christ  on  fields  with  shame  sown  deep 
May  hear  the  tender  sound  of  women's  needles, 
^     As  they  fall  fast  asleep. 


Copyright  by  Clinedlnst 


Newton  D.  Baker 


THE  TASK  OF  THE  RED  CROSS 

NEWTON  D.  BAKER 

The  human  race  is  a  waif  left  to  die  unless  we,  trustees, 
accept  the  task  of  rescuing  it. 

I  suppose  there  has  not  been,  since  the  very  early  times 
in  human  history,  a  war  in  which  slaughter  was  so  casual 
as  it  is  in  this. 

I  speak  of  its  casual  character  because  for  a  great  many 
hundred  years  we  have  been  progressing  in  the  direction 
of  limiting  the  horrors  of  war  to  the  combatants,  and  that 
in  this  Twentieth  Century  we  should  revert  to  the  casual 
slaughter  of  children,  to  the  improvident  slaughter  of 
women,  to  the  theory  of  warfare  by  the  extermination  of 
peoples,  and  to  the  use  of  weapons  of  war  like  starvation 
and  disease  is  an  unthinkable  reversion  to  barbarous  type 
which  it  was  the  hope  of  the  intelligent  that  the  world  had 
outgrown. 

We  are  entering  the  war  in  the  firm  belief  and  purpose 
of  ending  it  in  a  victory  for  right  —  and  we  have  not  the 
slightest  intention  of  stopping  until  that  victory  is 
achieved. 

Mad  as  the  world  seems  to  be,  some  day  there  will  be 
reestablished  on  this  stricken  planet  a  peace  which  will  be 
just  and  wise  and  permanent,  just  in  proportion  as  America 
pours  out  her  spiritual  resources  in  the  waging  of  the  war 
from  now  on  and  is  heard  at  the  conference  table  to  chal- 
lenge the  attention  of  mankind  to  the  beauty  of  right- 
eousness among  nations.  But  in  the  meantime,  as  the 
armies  which  are  being  called  are  trained  and  are  led  to 

263 


264  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

battle,  all  along  the  national  wayside  of  every  nation  in 
the  world,  still  crouch  the  terrified  and  trampled  figures 
of  the  children  of  mankind,  disowned,  starving,  and 
dying.  There  is  no  limit  to  it,  and  I  shall  not  undertake 
to  harrow  your  feelings  —  in  fact,  I  am  not  certain  that  I 
could  command  myself  to  repeat  the  heart-rendering 
messages  of  intimate  letters  which  I  have  seen  with  in 
the  last  day  or  two  about  Roiunania.  But  the  call  is 
limitless  and  it  is  to  be  made  known  to  the  hearts  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  we  are  going  to 
endeavor  to  respond  to  this  cry  of  distress. 

The  Red  Cross  of  the  United  States  of  America  has  set 
itself  the  great  task  of  raising  for,  one  might  say,  cosmic 
philanthropy,  a  sum  equal  to  the  destruction  which  the 
war  entails  in  a  da3^ 

The  response  which  we  ought  to  make  ought  to  be 
limited  only  by  the  extent  to  which  our  sympathy,  en- 
lightened by  knowledge  and  stirred  by  imagination  and 
then  understepping  rather  than  overstepping  the  mark, 
will  enable  us  to  make  sacrifices  for  the  greatest  need  the 
world  has  ever  known. 


YOUTH  SPEAKS   TO  YOUTH^ 

From  an  American  Student  to  the 

Girls  of  France 

To  you,  there  in  the  van, 

Thronging  hundreds  of  France, 

Who  through  dark  mists  march  to  the  light, 

Forging  a  way  toward  the  new  dawning  — 

1  These  messages  were  really  sent  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  by  an 
American  and  a  French  girl. 


THE   RED   CROSS   NURSES  265 

We  come,  we,  the  recruits, 

Adding  strength  to  your  strength  —  ^ 

Youth  to  your  youth  — 

That  when  the  mists  clear  and  dawn  Hghtens 

the  wreck  of  the  world, 
We  may  join  in  rebuilding. 

A  French  Girl  Replies 

It  was  only  a  little  river,  almost  a  brook;  it  was  called 
the  Yser.  One  could  talk  from  one  side  to  the  other  with- 
out raising  one's  voice,  and  the  birds  could  fly  over  it 
with  one  sweep  of  their  wings.  And  on  the  two  banks 
there  were  millions  of  men,  the  one  turned  toward  the 
other,  eye  to  eye.  But  the  distance  which  separated  them 
was  greater  than  the  stars  in  the  sky;  it  was  the  distance 
which  separates  right  from  injustice. 

The  ocean  is  so  great  that  the  sea  gulls  do  not  dare  to 
cross  it.  During  seven  days  and  seven  nights  the  great 
steamships  of  America,  going  at  full  speed,  drive  through 
the  deep  waters  before  the  lighthouses  of  France  come 
into  view;  but  from  one  side  to  the  other  hearts  are 
touching. 


THE   RED   CROSS   NURSES 

THOMAS   L.    MASSON 

Out  where  the  line  of  battle  cleaves 

The  horizon  of  woe 

And  sightless  warriors  clutch  the  leaves 

The  Red  Cross  nurses  go. 

In  where  the  cots  of  agony 

Mark  death's  unmeasured  tide  — 


266  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Bear  up  the  battle's  harvestry  — 
The  Red  Cross  nurses  gHde. 


Look !     Where  the  hell  of  steel  has  torn 
Its  way  through  slumbering  earth 
The  orphaned  urchins  kneel  forlorn 
And  wonder  at  their  birth. 
Until,  above  them,  calm  and  wise 
With  smile  and  guiding  hand, 
God  looking  through  their  gentle  eyes, 
The  Red  Cross  nurses  stand. 


WITH  THE  AMERICAN  RED  CROSS  IN  FRANCE  ^ 

HENRY  P.  DAVISON 

I  never  have  known  the  morale  as  high  all  along  the 
line  and  back  of  the  line  as  it  is  today.  And  I  believe 
the  American  Red  Cross  is  more  responsible  for  this  than 
any  other  single  agency. 

The  purpose  of  the  fight  behind  the  line  is  to  break 
down  the  morale  of  the  civilian  population  to  such  a  point 
that  they  will  importune  their  governments  for  peace. 
It  is  the  most  dastardly,  unrighteous,  cruel,  devilish  plan 
which  could  be  conceived.  It  is  based  upon  the  theory 
that  the  killing  of  four  children  out  of  five  will  induce 
the  mother  to  implore  her  government  to  have  the  war 
stopped  that  her  fifth  child  may  live.  It  is  carried  on 
from  the  British  Channel  to  the  Swiss  border  and  from 
the  Swiss  border  to  the  Adriatic.  It  has  resulted  in  the 
murder  and  maiming  of  thousands  of  women  and  children 
and  the  driving  of  hundreds  of  thousands  from  their 
homes. 

I  wish  I  could  give  you  a  picture  of  one  of  those  nights. 
We  went  into  a  town  of  about  fifty  thousand  about  six 
o'clock  one  evening.  About  half  past  seven  we  started 
over  to  the  Red  Cross  canteen.  As  we  went  into  the 
main  street,  I  noticed  a  concourse  of  people  all  going  in 
one  direction.  After  walking  along  with  them  three  or 
four  minutes  I  said,  "What  is  going  on,  what  is  this?" 
They  said  these  people  were  moving  out  for  the  night  to 
the  caves. 


^From  a  speech  delivered  in  Chicago,  May  23,  1918. 

267 


268  THE   SPIRIT   OF    DEMOCRACY 

There  were  old  men,  women,  and  children.  For 
instance,  one  would  see  a  mother  walking  with  a  girl  of 
fourteen,  a  girl  of  twelve,  a  child  of  seven,  and  a  child  of 
one  in  her  arms,  carrying  a  small  mattress,  pillows,  any 
coverlets  whatever,  that  they  might  have  a  night  not  of 
sleep,  but  of  security  in  a  cave  a  mile  and  a  half  outside 
the  town.  That  was  my  first  view  of  people  seeking 
refuge  from  the  aerial  bombardment. 

I  went  over  to  our  canteen.  It  had  been  an  old  ware- 
house and  had  been  fixed  up  by  camouflage  artists.  In 
the  main  room  were  tables  where  soldiers  could  have 
meals.  Back  of  that  was  a  large  room  with  cots  for  the 
soldiers  to  sleep.  Next  to  that  was  a  room  where  the 
soldiers  could  take  off  their  clothes  and,  while  they  were 
bathing,  the  clothes  could  be  fumigated. 

I  walked  around  in  the  crowd  and  in  the  cashier's  office 
one  of  the  girls  stepped  up  and  pulled  down  the  window. 
I  asked,  "What  has  happened?"  She  said,  "The  raid 
is  coming,  w^e  must  get  to  a  place  of  safety."  I  said, 
"You  come  with  me."  She  said,  "O,  never.  Do  you 
think  that  I,  as  head  of  this  canteen,  could  leave  this 
building  while  there  is  a  French  soldier  in  it?  Do  you 
think  an  American  woman  could  run  from  a  bomb  in 
the  presence  of  a  Frenchman?" 

Well,  after  a  bit  we  went  to  the  abri,  built  of  reinforced 
concrete,  with  sandbags  over  the  top.  It  would  hold, 
perhaps,  one  hundred  people.  The  signal  that  the  raid 
was  over  was  sounded  at  half  past  ten  and  we  went  out. 
I  asked,  "Are  you  going  home?"  They  said,  "What, 
going  home?  We  are  open  twenty-three  hours  a  day. 
We  close  only  between  seven  and  eight  in  the  morning 
that  the  place  may  be  cleaned."  They  went  back  and  I 
went  to  the  hotel. 


THE   FEET   OF   THE   CHILDREN  269 

We  retired  and  were  awakened  about  ojie  o'clock  by 
the  breaking  in  of  our  windows.  That  indicated  another 
air  raid  was  on  —  and  so,  through  the  night,  that  town  was 
bombarded.  In  the  morning  we  saw  the  people  going 
about  more  or  less  in  their  usual  demeanor.  Of  course, 
they  were  paralyzed  with  fear,  but  there  wasn't  any  sign 
of  weakening. 

Three  days  later  that  town  was  evacuated  by  its 
civilian  population.  The  soldiers  of  the  French  army 
remained,  and  you  may  know  that  the  eighteen  American 
women  are  still  there  running  the  canteen.  They  will 
continue  to  do  so  as  long  as  there  are  any  soldiers  there. 


THE   FEET   OF   THE   CHILDREN 

NORA    ARCHIBALD    SMITH 

In  far  Arabia  they  tell  the  tale — 

A  wondrous  tale,  e'en  in  the  home  of  wonders — 

Of  that  great  magic-worker,  whose  fine  ear, 

Held  to  the  ground  in  any  desert's  core, 

Yet  could  detect  on  Bagdad's  stony  ways 

The  pattering  of  little  children's  feet 

And  hear  their  laughter  and  their  frolicking. 

A  wondrous  tale  indeed;  and  yet  today. 

In  this  new  land  that  never  held  enchantment. 

Day  after  day  the  miracle  is  wrought  again. 

No  woman's  ear  that  is  not  pressed  to  earth 

Each  day  she  wakens,  while  with  anguished  heart 

She  hears  the  echoing  of  children's  feet. 

Bare  feet  and  wayworn,  in  the  wilderness. 


270  THE   SPIRIT  OF   DEMOCRACY 

Oh,  little  feet  in  Flanders  and  in  France; 
Strayed  feet  in  Belgium's  vast  orphanage; 
Feet  that  have  never  sinned  and  yet  must  bleed 
In  Germany's  stark  homes  and  swollen  graveyards; 
Small  feet  of  woe  in  Russia's  cruel  snows ; 
Armenian  feet  and  Polish,  Serb  and  Austrian, 
We  hear  your  terror  in  your  pattering. 

We  may  not  bear  the  load  of  anguish  more ; 
Each  step  falls  like  a  weight  of  iron  down. 
We  feel  the  frozen  touch,  the  icy  chill, 
Of  flesh  that  life  may  never  warm  again. 
Oh,  feet  unsheltered  from  the  wintry  blast, 
Dear  feet  that  never  walked  uncompanied, 
God  send  you  safely  into  paradise! 


WHEN   THE   BOYS   COME   HOME 

JOHN    HAY 

There's  a  happy  time  coming, 

When  the  boys  come  home. 
There 's  a  glorious  day  coming, 
.   When  the  boys  come  home. 
We  will  end  the  dreadful  story 
Of  this  treason  dark  and  gory 
In  a  sunburst  of  glory, 

When  the  boys  come  home. 

The  day  will  seem  brighter 

When  the  boys  come  home, 
For  our  hearts  will  be  lighter 

When  the  boys  come  home. 
Wives  and  sweethearts  will  press  them 
In  their  arms  and  caress  them. 
And  pray  God  to  bless  them. 

When  the  boys  come  home. 

The  thinned  ranks  will  be  proudest 

When  the  boys  come  home, 
And  their  cheer  will  ring  the  loudest 

When  the  boys  come  home. 
The  full  ranks  will  be  shattered, 
And  the  bright  arms  will  be  battered, 
And  the  battle-standards  tattered, 

When  the  boys  come  home. 
271 


273  THE   SPIRIT   OF   DEMOCRACY 

Their  bayonets  may  be  rusty, 
When  the  boys  come  home, 

And  their  uniforms  dusty, 
When  the  boys  come  home. 

But  all  shall  see  the  traces 

Of  battle's  royal  graces, 

In  the  brown  and  bearded  faces, 
When  the  boys  come  home. 

Our  love  shall  go  to  meet  them, 

When  the  boys  come  home, 
To  bless  them  and  to  greet  them, 

When  the  boys  come  home; 

And  the  fame  of  their  endeavor 

Time  and  change  shall  not  dissever 

From  the  nation's  heart  forever, 

When  the  boys  come  home. 


UL  bULIIH 


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